'  - 

/ 


Marooned   ******* 

A  Sea  Tale     i********** 

*****  by  W.  Clark  Russell 


Chicago  and  New  York  *  *  * 
Rand,  McNally  &  Company 


STACK 
ANNEX 

PR 


MAEOONED 

CHAPTER  I 

I  RECEIVE  A  LETTE3 

I  KETUENED  to  my  lodgings  in  London  one  night  in  June  in 
the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  something,  and  found  a  letter 
lying  upon  the  table.  It  was  from  my  cousin,  Alexander  Fraser, 
and  was  dated  at  Rio  Janeiro.  This  was  a  man  whom  I  had 
neither  seen  nor  heard  of  for  some  years.  We  had  been  sent  to 
sea  as  boys  in  the  East  India  Company's  service,  arid  together 
had  made  three  voyages  in  the  same  ship  to  Bombay ;  which  in 
those  ambling  days  of  trade,  when  a  four  months'  passage  to  the 
Bay  of  Bengal  was  considered  a  good  run,  meant  a  Jong  and 
Intimate  association.  Through  the  death  of  my  dear  mother  I 
•same  into  money  enough  to  render  me  independent,  and  so  I 
quitted  old  ocean  after  three  years  of  seafaring.  Fraser  made 
<*  fourth  voyage  and  I  then  lost  sight  of  him.  When  later  on  I 
arrote  to  his  sisters  in  the  north  of  Scotland,  I  was  told  he  had 
left  his  ship  at  Bombay  to  accompany  a  tea-grower,  who  had 
been  a  passenger  in  the  vessel,  to  his  plantations.  That  was  the 
last  I  heard  ot  him.  As  I  held  his  letter  in  my  hand,  memory 
recalled  him  as  a  fair,  blue-eyed,  bronzed  young  fellow,  exceed- 
ingly good-looking,  a  very  nimble  and  alert  seaman,  fitter  for 
the  navy  indeed  than  for  the  tea- waggon  service,  full  of  spirit 
and  resolution  and  extremely  impulsive. 

He  wrote  to  the  following  effect :  first  of  all,  he  said,  he  had 
heard  of  me  and  obtained  my  address  from  a  friend  of  mine  who 
had  sailed  a  few  months  before  for  Lima,  but  whose  ship  had 
been  obliged  to  put  into  Rio  to  repair  some  damage  she  had 
sustained  in  a  heavy  gale  off  Cape  Agostino.  He  had  a  long 
story  to  relate  about  his  misfortunes  in  India,  how  he  had  been 
villainously  deceived  in  the  character  of  his  associate  and 
almost  ruined  by  him,  and  how,  as  he  had  no  wish  to  die  of 
starvation,  he  had  shipped  as  a  foremast  hand  aboard  a  Yankee 


2  MAROONED 

vessel  from  which  he  ran  on  her  arrival  at  Pernambuco,  where 
he  fell  in  with  a  sugar-grower  belonging  to  Rio,  who  offered  him 
a  good  berth  on  his  estate  in  the  neighbourhood  of  that  town. 
He  had  not  been  long  settled  when  he  made  the  acquaintance  of 
a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grant,  with  whose  only  daughter,  Aurelia,  he 
immediately  fell  in  love.  Mr.  Grant  was  a  Scotchman  who  had 
married  a  Spanish  lady  of  noble  birth,  and  their  daughter,  Fraser 
went  on  to  say,  was  the  most  majestic,  stately,  and  beautiful 
woman  that  ever  walked  the  earth.  The  parents  consented  to 
their  betrothal,  but  objected  to  the  marriage  until  Fraser  was  in 
a  condition  to  support  a  wife  in  comfort.  One  right,  very 
suddenly,  died  Mrs.  Grant.  Her  husband,  who  adored  her,  found 
her  dead  at  his  side,  and  the  shock  was  so  great  that  both  his 
health  and  his  mind  gave  way.  He  declared  that  he  could  not 
support  life  in  a  town  where  every  object  which  met  his  eye 
reminded  him  of  his  loss ;  and  within  a  month  of  Mrs.  Grant's 
death  he  broke  up  his  home  and  sailed  with  Aurelia  for  England. 
Fraser  added  that  folks  at  Rio  spoke  of  Mr.  Grant  as  a  well-to-do 
man,  and  talked  of  Aurelia  as  an  heiress  ;  but  the  truth  came  out 
when  he  was  gone,  :ind  it  was  then  understood  that  so  far  from 
being  rich,  he  had  just  contrived  to  come  to  a  stand  within  a 
few  fathoms  of  the  brink  of  insolvency. 

The  lovers  of  course  agreed  to  write  by  every  ship.  Fraser 
was  cock-sure  of  being  able  to  support  a  wife  before  another 
year  had  run  out,  and  it  was  settled  that  he  was  to  send  for  or 
retch  her  at  the  expiration  of  the  twelvemonth,  as  there  was  not 
the  least  likelihood  of  Mr.  Grant  returning  to  Rio. 

Eight  months  after  the  arrival  of  the  girl  in  England  the 
father  died.  She  wrote  to  acquaint  Fraser  with  her  loss,  and 
hinted  quite  enough  to  intimate  that  she  was  not  only  friendless 
in  London,  but  in  poverty.  'And  now,'  continued  my  cousin, 
'I  want  you,  who  were  as  a  brother  to  me  when  we  were 
together  at  sea,  to  stand  me  in  a  brother's  stead  again  in  about 
as  trying  and  perplexing  a  passage  as  ever  formed  part  of  a 
man's  life.  The  business  I  have  charge  of  is  so  tender,  it  needs 
such  cherishing,  such  persistent  personal  attention,  that  I  am 
persuaded  were  I  to  Jet  go  cf  it  to  fetch  Aurelia  I  should  return 
to  find  myself  bankrupt.  The  population  of  Rio  comprises  a 
great  number  of  rogues,  and  though  the  people  I  employ  are  not 
worse  than  the  rest,  they  are  rascals  nevertheless,  ana  I  make 
no  doubt  whatever  that  if  I  were  to  turn  my  back  upon  them 
for  three  months  they  would  ruin  me.  Now,  my  dear  Dick,  this 
is  what  you  will  do  for  me :  you  will  call  upon  Aurelia ' — here 
came  in  the  address — 'advance  whatever  money  she  may  require, 
engage  a  cabin  for  her  in  the  next  ship  that  sails  for  Rio, 
furnish  her  with  all  such  delicacies  and  comforts  as  your  sea- 
faring experiences,  backed  by  a  fastidious  appetite,  will  suggest, 
and  then,  all  this  being  done,  a-^ompany  her  yourself.  You 
start !  But,  my  dear  boy,  you  will  do  this !  ay,  indeed  you 
will ;  for,  d'ye  see,  you  must,  Dick.  You  will  need  but  glance  at 


I  RECEIVE  A  LETTER  1 

her  to  perceive  instantaneously  that  she  cannot  be  suffered  to 
embark  alone.  And  consider  how  happy  it  will  make  her, 
thrown  as  she  must  needs  be  into  the  company,  not  of  our 
polished  glittering  species — the  sparkling  dandies  of  John 
Company — but  of  men  with  faces  ^like  walnut  shells,  with 
voices  hoarse  and  raw  with  hard  drinking,  whose  language  is 
thickened  and  stiffened  with  horrid  objectionable  words — how 
happy,  I  say,  it  will  make  her  to  feel  that  she  has  the  protection, 
of  her  sweetheart's  own  cousin,  a  man  of  muscle  and  nerve,  who 
can  tell  the  toughest  salt  of  them  all  where  the  flying-jibboom 
ends  and  how  many  gudgeons  a  liner's  rudder  hangs  on ! 
Consider  the  ease  of  mind  that  I  shall  enjoy  through  knowing 
that  you  are  at  her  side.  Consider  again  the  prodigious  delight 
it  will  give  me  to  meet  you — to  thank  you — to  entertain  you — 
to  yarn  with  you  over  the  past  and  hearken  to  the  home  news 
you  will  bring  with  you.  No  excuse,  as  you  love  me !  You 
must  come,  d'ye  see,  Dick.  Yes,  you  must  absolutely  accompany 
my  poor  lonely  darling  girl.  You  are  an  idle  man,  you  know  ; 
your  friend  told  me  you  were  unmarried  when  he  last  saw  you, 
and  I  have  a  right  to  believe,  as  I  certainly  hope,  that  you  are 
single  at  this  minute  of  reading  my  letter.  The  voyage  is  a 
pleasant  one.  Once  clear  of  the  Bay,  'tis  no  more  than  the 
pleasant  fanning  of  the  north-east  trade  wind,  with  a  brief 
instructive  halt  on  the  equator  for  a  glance  at  John  Sharkee 
and  the  pretty  little  flying  fishes,  and  then  a  delightful  run  to 
the  noblest  bit  of  scenery  the  wide  world  over,  Reflect  a  little 
upon  your  health,  and  you  are  sure  to  discover  that  a  change  of 
air  will  do  you  good.  And  name  me  an  air  sweeter  than  the 
ocean  breeze !  Beside,  you  were  never  in  South  America,  and 
cannot  therefore  imagine  the  delights  in  store  for  you  in  the 
shape  of  the  rivers,  the  mountains,  the  shining  flowers  and 
exquisite  fruits  of  this  grand  continent,  or  at  all  events  of  that 
part  of  it  to  which  I  invite  you.' 

And  so  the  letter  went  on,  terminating  in  a  whole  jumble  of 
exhortations  to  me  to  come — to  squire  hi*  sweethpiit-  to  behold 
from  the  summit  of  the  regal  Corcovado  the  magnificent  harbour, 
the  sparkling  city,  the  green  country  beyond  aflame  with 
coloured  growths.  .  .  . 

It  was  a  letter  to  set  me  pacing  the  room.  The  voyage  was 
a  considerable  one ;  and  though  1  had  gone  to  sea  for  love  of 
ships  when  I  was  a  boy,  a  very  few  months  sufficed  to  break 
the  spell,  and  I  had  long  ceased,  as  I  believed,  to  be  sensible 
of  any  sort  of  oceanic  influence.  I  sat  down,  filled  a  pipe,  and 
entered  into  certain  calculations.  I  reckoned  that  a  tolerably 
true  course  to  Rio  from  the  Thames  would  come  hard  upon  five 
thousand  nautical  miles,  and  as  it  was  hopeless  to  expect  that 
any  British  South  American  trader  would  average  more  than  a 
hundred  and  fifty  knots  in  the  twenty-four  hours.  I  judged 
that,  though  all  conditions  should  prove  favourable,  the  outward 
passage  alone  would  run  me  into  five  or  six  weeks.  Then  of 

B  2 


4  MAROONED 

coarse  I  should  have  to  return,  so  that  I  must  look  upon  the 
round  voyage  as  promising  me  three  solid  months,  at  least, 
upon  a  bosom  that  had  ceased  to  rock  me  for  some  years.  The 
first  movement  of  my  mind  was  one  of  recoil,  but  after  turning 
the  project  over  I  got  to  think  that,  after  all,  the  voyage  would 
prove  a  complete  and  healthy  change,  inexpensive  too,  and  much 
less  troublesome  than  a  trip  across  the  Channel.  Possibly  the 
old  instincts  which  had  driven  me  to  sea  as  a  lad,  and  which 
I  had  thought  dead  long  ago,  lived  still,  and  were  now  faintly 
stirring  to  sudden  visions  of  frothing  billows,  of  the  small  green 
moon  shearing  like  a  cannon-ball  through  the  flying  scud,  of 
the  star-touched  swell  rolling  in  dark  folds  silently,  of  the 
tropic  shore  that  sweetens  the  warm  breath  of  the  languid 
breeze  with  the  odours  of  spices  and  the  perfume  of  a  nameless 
vegetation.  London  was  hot  and  dull ;  the  seaside  tedious  and 
commonplace.  My  excursions  abroad  formed  no  genial  memories, 

for  in I  nearly  died  of  fever  at  Brussels,  and  in lay  ill 

of  a  poisonous  smell  for  close  upon  a  month  at  Florence.  Besides, 
my  cousin  pleaded  to  me  as  a  jbrother  and  a  sailor,  and  I  knew 
him  well  enough  to  feel  certain  that  if  he  were  in  my  place  he 
would  do  me  this  service. 

But  what  sort  of  a  girl  was  this  Miss  Aurelia  Grant?  My 
cousin  expressed  her  perfections  in  the  impassioned  language 
of  love,  and  he  might  possibly  be  very  right  in  all  he  said  ;  but 
I  remember  a  man  who  had  passed  some  years  in  Spain,  and 
who  knew  the  Spanish  character  well,  telling  me  that  he  took 
particular  notice  there  was  a  deal  of  the  mule  mixed  up  in  the 
disposition  of  the  women  of  that  country — a  quality,  as  he 
described  it,  of  bland  and  even  polite  obstinacy,  that  was,  how- 
ever, very  easily  excited  into  a  most  unpleasant,  clamorous, 
peevish  stubbornness.  Miss  Aurelia  was  indeed  half  English  ; 
but  suppose  the  other  half  of  her  was  not  to  my  taste-?  I  do 
protest  on  my  word  that  I  would  rather  go  to  jail  for  a  fortnight 
than  be  locked  up  in  a  ship  for  a  month  with  a  disagreeable 
woman.  Thus  I  sat  debating  ;  but  though  I  was  some  distance 
on  the  road  towards  forming  a  resolution,  I  cannot  say  that  I 
had  at  all  made  up  my  mind  when  I  went  to  bed. 


NEXT  morning  I  dressed  myself  with  more  care  than  I  usually 
took  in  this  way,  though  twenty-six  years  old  and  not  without 
self-complacency  in  some  respects,  and  about  eleven  o'clock 
drove  to  the  add  ss  given  me  by  Fraser. 

I  found  the  house  in  a  dull  and  dingy  street  out  of  the 
Edgware  Road.  .Miss.Grant  was  at  home.  I  sent  up  my  name, 


MISS  AUKELIA  GRANT  0 

and  was  shown  into  a  little  front  parlour,  gloomy  with  sallow 
drapery  and  the  bilious  atmosphere  peculiar  to  this  part  of  the 
metropolis.  In  a  few  minutes  she  entered,  and  I  must  confess 
I  sprang  rather  than  rose  to  my  feet,  so  surprised  was  I  by  the 
girl's  beauty  and  deportment.  I  had  indeed  conjectured  a  tall 
figure  in  conformity  with  my  cousin's  description,  but  imagin- 
ation had  not  gone  beyond  that  and  a  pair  of  dark  eyes  and  an 
upper  lip  shaded  with  down. 

Now  Miss  Aurelia  Grant  had  as  fair  and  delicate  a  complexion 
as  any  that  ever  I  witnessed  in  the  most  matchless  English 
woman's  face.  Her  hair  was  brown,  very  plentiful,  thick  and 
soft,  and  it  had  a  kind  of  light  of  its  own  upon  it  as  though 
dusted  with  gold.  ^  Her  eyes  were  black — profoundly  so: 
Spanish  eyes  in  passion  and  power  and  meaning,  but  subdued 
to  an  expression  of  beauty  by,  as  I  took  it,  the  English  heart  in 
her,  that  rendered  them  remarkable  beyond  my  capacity  of 
expression.  Her  figure  was  extremely  fine,  full,  yet  girlish  too. 
She  was  dressed  in  mourning,  and  as  she  stood  looking  at  me  a 
moment  or  two  in  the  doorway,  I  said  to  myself,  This  is  the 
handsomest  creature  I  have  ever  seen ! 

There  was  a  little  blush  on  her  cheeks  that  brightened  the 
light  in  her  eyes :  she  smiled  and  gave  me  her  hand. 

'  I  am  indeed  glad  to  see  you,  Mr.  Musgrave.  Alexander  has 
talked  of  you  to  me  again  and  again.  In  a  letter  I  received 
from  him  yesterday  he  told  me  you  would  calL  You  are  very 
good  to  come  so  soon.' 

'I  shall  be  truly  rejoiced  if  I  can  be  of  service  to  you,'  said  I, 
still  a  trifle  confused.  '  My  cousin's  description  of  you — eloquent 
as  his  devotion  would  naturally  make  him' — here  I  fumbled 
for  the  letter, — '  would — perhaps,  madam  (we  madam'd  the  ladies 
in  those  days  of  high  coat-collars,  splendid  waistcoats,  and 
immense  breast-pins), '  you  would  like  to  read  it.' 

She  took  it  eagerly,  and  her  eyes  grew  so  fond  as  she  read, 
whilst  a  look  so  yearning  entered  her  face — such  an  expression 
as  the  memory  of  her  loneliness  might  put  into  her  when  she 
should  meet  her  sweetheart  again  after  their  long  separation — 
that  I  felt  I  acted  sneakishly  in  watching  her.  She  smiled 
happily  when  she  came  to  the  part  in  which  Fraser  spoke  of  her 
beauty,  and  when  she  had  made  an  end  she  folded  the  letter 
carefully  as  though  it  were  something  precious,  and  pressed  it 
between  her  hands  as  if  it  was  her  sweetheart's  own  fingers 
she  held. 

It  seemed  to  me  as  I  surveyed  her  that  my  cousin  exhibited 
uncommon  courage  in  confiding  so  much  beauty  as  this  to  the 
care  and  attention  of  a  man  whom  he  knew  to  be  young  and 
single,  to  say  no  more,  for  a  spell  of  shipboard  that  might  last 
for  two  or  even  three  months.  Our  eyes  met:  her  colour 
deepened  somewhat,  but  her  brilliant  gaze  was  as  steady  as 
the  shining  of  a  star.  There  was  a  singularly  engaging,  most 
unaffected  quality  or  tone  of  frankness  in  her  voice. 


6  MAROONED 

'Alexander  has  asked  you  to  do  him  a  great  favour.  It  is 
really  too  great.'  I  seemed  to  dissent.  'It  is  positively  enough, 
Mr.  Musgrave,  that  you  should  hire  a  cabin  tor  me.  To  make 
the  voyage  also !  And  yet  I  know  he  would  be  overjoyed  to  see 
you.  Still  it  is  a  tedious  journey,  and  if  you  are  like  Alexander 
you  detest  the  sea.' 

'  No,'  said  I, '  I  believe  I  shall  enjoy  a  few  weeks  on  the  ocean. 
The  fact  is,  madam,  I  want  time  to  realize  the  thing,  so  to  speak, 
— not  to  understand  it,  for  of  course  it  is  intelligible  enough, 
but  to  accustom  my  thoughts  to  it,  you  know ; '  and  here  I 
coughed  and  brought  myself  up  '  all  standing,'  as  sailors  say,  for 
indeed  there  was  something  in  her  shining  steadfast  gaze  that 
caused  me  to  talk  as  though  I  was  ill  at  ease. 

'  Should  you  decide  to  be  my  companion,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  said 
she,  '  the  voyage  will  be  something  to  look  forward  to,  greatly 
as  I  dislike  the  sea,  or  rather  existence  on  board  ship.'  I  bowea. 
'  But  you  will  not  dream  of  doing  more  than  securing  a  cabin 
for  me  and  helping  me  in  one  or  two  other  ways — if  you  have 
the  least  reluctance.  It  is  quite  possible  that  I  may  find  a 
pleasant  companion  among  the  passengers — if  there  should  be 
ladies  on  board.  As  a  rule  the  captains  and  mates  of  the  ships 
that  trade  to  South  America  are  a  very  rough  and  rude  set  of 
men.  Should  I  be  the  only  passenger,  it  is  natural,'  she  said, 
with  a  little  droop  of  the  head,  '  that  I  should  not  choose  to  be 
alone  in  such  society.' 

This  was  like  an  appeal  in  its  way,  and  her  manner  of  speaking 
rendered  it  irresistible.  Besides,  there  was  Fraser's  letter  calling 
upon  me  to  protect  her,  imploring  me  as  one  who  was  as  a 
brother  to  do  him  this  great  service,  and  these  considerations 
coming  on  top  of  my  concern  for  her  loneliness  and  helplessness, 
my  sympathy  with  her  in  the  grief  that  was  still  rftcent,  and 
above  all  the  perception  that  she  desired  my  company,  and  that 
I  should  be  acting  unchivalrously  to  refuse  her,  made  me  whip 
out, 'Miss  Grant,  it  is  settled.  We  sail  together.  There  is  nothing 
to  keep  me  ashore.  It  will  be  delightful  to  meet  Fraser  again, 
and  I  shall  find  immense  satisfaction  in  feeling  that  my  enjoy- 
ment of  your  society  also  includes  the  pleasure  of  obliging  you.' 

She  clapped  her  hands  with  a  gesture  that  was  like  telling 
you  she  had  something  besides  English  blood  in  her. 

'  How  good  you  are  !  How  glad  you  make  me,  Mr.  Musgrave ! 
I  wonder  what  kind  of  ship  we  shall  sail  in  ? '  she  cried,  with  the 
vivacity  of  a  mind  that  has  suddenly  lost  its  burden.  '  She  must 
prove  swift !  She  cannot  sail  too  fast  for  me ! '  and  here  she 
told  me  of  the  vessel  in  which  she  and  her  father  had  made  the 
voyage  home — a  clumsy,  round-bowed  polacca,  apparently,  that 
stirred  to  nothing  less  than  half  a  gale  of  wind,  and  so  leaky  that 
the  crew  were  at  the  pumps  for  fourteen  hours  out  of  the  twenty  - 
four;  with  a  bow-legged,  oeef -faced  old  swab  for  captain,  whose 
favourite  boast  was  that  he  had  once  swallowed  at  a  draught 
a  bowl  of  punch  containing  ten  half -pints  of  .  rum,  whiskey, 


MISS  AUKELIA  GRANT  T 

brandy  and  water.  She  described  this  man  and  his  habits  with 
so  much  humour  as  to  give  me  a  high  opinion  of  her  talent  as 
an  observer ;  and  she  made  me  laugh  heartily  by  an  account  of 
a  quarrel  between  him  and  his  mate  over  a  pudding — the  latter 
(an  Irishman)  beginning  it  by  swearing  that  he  had  seen  dried 
currants  and  rasms  growing  naturally  like  capers  on  trees,  and 
the  captain  ending  it  by  grasping  a  lump  of  the  hot  and  steam- 
ing stuff  and  flinging  it  plump  into  the  mate's  face.  Maybe 
something  of  the  merriment  of  the  tale  and  her  delivery  of  itlay 
to  my  mind  in  the  contrast  between  the  rough  sea  anecdote  and 
the  dignity,  refinement,  and  beauty  of  the  speaker.  But  I  confess 
I  liked  her  the  better  for  her  archness  and  for  her  easy  recital 
of  a  story  which  Miss  Prim  would  consider  rather  vulgar,  since 
'  it  referred  to  such  very  common  people. 

Our  conversation  presently  went  to  her  father.  He  died  in 
the  house  in  which  she  was  still  lodging,  and  she  declared  that 
when,  after  the  funeral,  she  sat  down  to  reflect  she  did  not  know 
what  in  the  world  she  should  do.  She  had  not  a  friend  in  Eng- 
land, and  of  her  mother's  relatives  in  Spain  she  knew  nothing. 
The  few  pounds  her  father  had  left  were  fast  giving  out,  and  she 
frankly  told  me  that  the  money  she  still  had  would  not  have 
carried  her  on  another  month.  'Why  did  you  not  call  upon 
me?'  I  asked  her.  But  it  seems  that  Fraser  had  omitted  to  give 
my  address  in  the  last  letter  but  one  he  sent  to  her,  and  it  was 
only  a  week  or  two  before  he  wrote  that  he  had  learnt  it  from 
my  friend  whose  ship  had  been  forced  into  Rio. 

I  was  with  her  for  two  hours,  and  never  did  time  pass  more 
pleasantly  and  quickly.  We  arranged  that  I  should  call  for  her 
next  day  and  accompany  her  to  the  shops  she  had  occasion  to 
visit,  and  afterwards  make  inquiries  about  the  next  ship,  and 
start  on  all  the  necessary  preparations  for  the  voyage.  She  cried 
when  she  said  good-bye  to  me.  Indeed  she  had  suffered  griev- 
ously, and  now  that  the  darkness  was  passing  she  could  not  meet 
the  first  of  the  dawn  without  tears. 

As  to  myself,  I  hardly  knew  whether  my  resolution  made  me 
glad  or  sorry  when  I  came  to  turn  it  over.  The  girl  was  ex- 
ceedingly handsome,  but  then  she  was  not  my  sweetheart.  Had 
her  heart  been  her  own,  a  voyage  with  her  must  have  yielded  me 
a  prospect  that  could  not  have  left  me  doubting  whether  I  was 
right  in  this  adventure.  But  as  my  cousin's  betrothed  she  was  the 
same  to  me  as  if  she  was  his  wife.  There  was  no  room  for  sen- 
timent I  was  young  enough  to  take  this  into  consideration, 
and  I  say,  when  I  reflected  upon  my  determination  I  could  not 
satisfy  myself  that  my  judgment  was  as  brilliant  as  my  heroism. 

On  the  following  morning  I  called  at  her  lodgings,  and  after- 
wards passed  some  hours  in  watching  her  Vv'hilst  she  shopped 
and  in  paying  for  her  purchases.  There  was  a  dignified  frankness 
about  her  that  was  very  fascinating,  and  not  the  less  so  because 
it  was  tinctured  with  melancholy.  Her  line  eyes  expressed  so 
much  spirit,  there  was  so  much  power  in  the  curve  and  set  of 


S  MAROONED 

her  lips,  such  suggestion  of  self-reliance  in  the  peculiar  floating 
pose  of  her  head,  I  felt  persuaded  that  a  very  great  deal  of  the 
heroine  went  to  her  composition,  that  she  was  a  woman  whose 
qualities  would  best  discover  themselves  in  a  time  of  extremity. 
a  person  by  nature  so  ardent  that  no  theory  about  her  coula 
touch  the  limits  of  the  romantic  exploits  she  was  equal  to  in  the 
service  of  the  man  she  loved.  These  were  my  thoughts  as  I  sat 
watching  her  whilst  she  handled  the  stuffs  the  shopmen  put 
before  her,  frequently  turning  to  me  to  speak,  when  I  would 
notice  that  every  sudden  confrontment  of  her  full  beauty  sur- 
prised me  as  a  fresh  revelation. 

She  managed  to  buy  all  she  needed  in  one  day;  which  I  thought 
very  clever  and  very  kind  also.  '  How  long,'  said  I,  *  will  it  take 
you  to  prepare  for  the  voyage  ? ' 

*  Oh,'  she  answered, '  if  you  were  to  tell  me  the  ship  sails  to- 
morrow I  should  be  quite  ready.' 

I  told  her  that  I  would  devote  the  next  day  to  making 
inquiries  and  arrangements,  and  would  do  myself  the  pleasure 
to  call  in  the  evening  and  let  her  know  what  I  had  done.  *  At 
all  events,'  said  I, '  you  would  wish  me  to  book  ourselves  for  the 
next  ship  ? ' 

'  If  you  please,'  she  answered  with  anxiety. 

*  In  which  case,'  I  observed, '  we  must  not  be  fastidious.    The 
best  procurable  cabins  will  satisfy  us,  and  the  skipper's  appear- 
ance need  not  count.    Yet  it  will  not  do  to  sail  away  in  a  vessel 
whose  seams  yawn  and  whose  hold  has  been  abandoned  by  the 
rats.  I  have  some  small  knowledge  of  ships,  and  if  the  first  that 
offers  is  not  as  she  should  be,  we  must  wait  for  the  next.' 

'I  will  leave  everything  to  you,'  she  said,  'only,'  looking 
around  her  with  a  light  snudder, — we  were  conversing  in  her 
lodgings, — '  I  am  so  very  weary  of  this  gloomy  house,  this  dull 
street ;  so  longing  to  see  my  dear  one  again,  and  the  bright  sun 
and  the  flowers  of  my  own  home.' 

'  I  will  do  my  best,  I  exclaimed ;  'there  should  be,  and  perhaps 
will  be,  a  choice  of  ships.  If  we  have  to  wait  you  will  suffer  me 
to  find  you  pleasanter  quarters.' 

And  with  that  I  bade  her  good-bye  and  left  her. 


CHAPTER  IH 
THE  'IKON  CEOWN' 

IN  those  days  a  large  number  of  vessels  bound  to  all  parts  of 
the  world  loaded  in  the  Pool,  a  little  way  below  London  Bridge. 
Steam  then  was  young  and  not  much  was  made  of  it.  I  have 
lived  to  see  steamers  trading  to  South  America  big  enough  to 
stow  away  in  their  holds  many  of  the  sailing  vessels  which 
were  then  carrying  goods  and  passengers  to  all  parts  of  the 


THE  'IRON  CROWN'  9 

•world.  It  is  difficult  in  this  age  to  realize  the  kind  of  experiences 
our  forefathers  suffered  when  they  took  ship — it  mattered  little 
to  what  countries,  if  it  were  not  the  ports  to  which  the  India- 
men  were  dispatched.  I  have  heard  my  mother  say  that  in  her 
young  days  country  people  who  proposed  a  trip  to  London 
would  make  their  wills  before  entering  the  coach.  I  do  not 
know  that  the  coach  was  much  more  dangerous  than  the  loco- 
motive, but  I  am  certain  that  there  were  no  limits  to  the  perils 
which  menaced  the  ocean-borne  traveller  in  the  time  of  the 
little  passenger  ship  and  smaller  passenger  brig ;  when  the 
sailor  was  still  an  exceedingly  rough  son  of  a  gun,  charged  to  the 
throat  with  the  traditional  infirmities  of  his  calling  ;  when  no 
""special  qualifications  were  insisted  upon  as  conditions  of  a  man 
taking  charge  of  a  vessel ;  when  ships  sailed  without  side-lights, 
and  when  collisions  were  averted  by  the  easy  remedy  of  whip- 
ping the  lamp  out  of  the  binnacle  and  flourishing  it  over  the 
rail ;  when  the  cabin  provisions  were  only  a  little  less  coarse 
than  the  forecastle  fare,  and  when  a  passage  that  is  now  made 
in  a  week  occupied  two  or  three  months. 

I  had  obtained  the  addresses  of  a  few  brokers  and  owners  in 
the  South  American  trade,  hoping  thus  to  tind^two  or  three  ships 
proceeding  much  about  the  same  time,  but  it  turned  out  that 
the  first  vessel  on  the  berth  sailed  next  day,  and  that  her  cabin 
accommodation  was  full.  Her  name,  I  remember,  was  the 
Amazon.  The  next  vessel,  a  brig  named  the  Iron  Crown,  did 
not  sail  until  the  23rd,  so  that  even  if  she  satisfied  me  we 
should  have  to  wait  eight  days.  The  office  of  the  owner  of  this 
craft  was  in  Tower  Hill,  ana  whilst  I  was  inquiring  about  her 
cabin  accommodation,  the  person  to  whom  I  was  speaking, 
motioning  towards  a  man  who  had  entered  a  moment  before, 
exclaimed, 

'Here  is  the  master  himself,  sir,  Captain  Guy  Broadwater, 
and  he  will  tell  you  that  a  stouter,  swifter,  more  comfortable 
ship  than  the  Iron  Crown  never  sailed  out  of  an  English  port. 
Captain,  you  will  confirm  me.  What  is  it  now,'  inclining  his 
head  and  screwing  up  one  eye  as  if  in  thought,  'on  a  bowline 
with  you?  A  cool  thirteen,  I  "believe?  Indeed,' he  cried,  chafing 
his  hands  and  grinning,  '  we  may  safely  consider  the  good  ship 
Iron  Crown  the  one  favourite  trader  between  Rio  and  the 
Thames.' 

'  Well,'  said  Captain  Broadwater  in  the  hoarse  voice  of  a  man 
who  has  broken  his  pipes  by  rum  and  years  of  bawling  aloft  in 
gales, '  it  isn't  for  me  to  praise  the  Iron  Crown,  sir.  She  can 
speak  for  herself.  She  only  needs  to  know  that  a  man's  eye  is 
upon  her  to  talk  out.  Handsome !  Well,  I  knew  old  Jarge 
Rowley  who  laid  her  keel,  and  always  reckoned  him  a  man 
•without  the  least  flavey  of  sentiment  in  his  intellectuals  until 
this  here  Iron  Crown  was  launched  and  lay  floating,  and  then 
I  says  to  myself,  "  Broadwater,"  I  says,  *'_swaller  your  own 
precious  eyes,  mate,  if  Jarge  ain't  a  poet  I'"' 


10  MAROONED 

'  You  hear  what  the  captain  says,  sir  1 '  cried  the  other,  con- 
tinuing to  chafe  his  hands. 

I  took  a  short  survey  of  Captain  Guy  Broadwater,  and  there 
stood  before  me  a  wide-shouldered,  exceedingly  muscular  man 
of  fifty,  short,  with  iron-gray  hair  and  a  beard  that  hung  like  a 
bush  at  his  throat,  the  chin  being  shaved.  He  had  the  smallest 
eyes  I  ever  saw,  and  their  colour  as  I  now  took  stock  of  them 
seemed  red,  but  I  afterwards  discovered  that  this  was  due  to 
congestion  caused  by  rheumatism,  or  punch,  or  both.  His  nose 
was  of  the  exact  shape  of  a  pear,  and  being  purple  at  tho 
nostrils  and  point,  looked  as  if  it  had  been  lately  stung  by  a  bee. 
His  mouth  on  the  other  hand  was  so  small  as  to  correspond,  as 
a  deformity,  with  his  eyes.  When  he  was  not  speaking  he 
seemed  from  the  posture  of  his  lips  to  be  trying,  but  in  vain,  to 
whistle.  The  skin  of  his  face  was  much  burnt  by  the  weather, 
and  it  was  adorned  with  a  strange,  subcutaneous  filigree-work, 
or  net  rather  let  me  term  it,  of  dusky  crimson  meshes.  He  was 
dressed  in  pilot-cloth,  and  carried  in  his  hand  a  bell-shaped 
beaver,  the  brim  of  which  was  large  enough  to  furnish  out  a 
bishop.  Yet  ugly  and  queer  as  he  was,  there  was  nothing 
whatever  in  his  appearance  to  offend  or  prejudice  me.  I  put 
him  down  at  once  as  a  coarse,  unlettered,  but  good-natured 
sailor  of  the  hearty  lively  type,  whose  physical  peculiarities 
were  to  a  certain  extent  to  be  attributed  to  bad  victuals  in 
early  life,  to  too  much  liquor  later  on,  and  throughout  to  the 
rough  usage  of  the  vocation  of  the  sea  when  followed  before 
the  mast.  I  told  him  that  I  was  glad  to  make  his  acquaintance, 
%nd  that  I  had  called  with  the  intention  of  taking  a  passage  in 
his  ship,  though  I  would  not  decide  until  I  had  inspected  her. 

'Sir,'  said  he,  '  I  am  going  aboard  myself  when  I  have  done  my 
business  with  this  gentleman,  and  if  you  don't  mind  lettin'  go 
your  anchor  here  for  five  minutes,  I'll  carry  ye  straight  to  the 
vessel.' 

They  withdrew  to  an  inner  office,  where  I  could  hear  the 
growling  voice  of  my  captain  mingling  with  the  sharp-edged 
tones  of  his  owner,  as  though  there  were  a  mastiff  and  a  pug 
tumbling  and  larking  behind  the  door. 

The  skipper  presently  emerged  and  put  on  his  broad-brimmed 
hat,  in  which  he  made  so  strange  a  figure  that  I  could  scarce 
forbear  a  laugh.  We  walked  to  the  river,  and  were  rowed  to  a 
brig  that  was  moored  in  mid-stream. 

'Here  she  is!'  cried  Captain  Broadwater;  'look  at  her,  sir! 
Was  there  ever  beautifuller  lines !  Observe  the  lovely  swell  of 
the  side !  It  might  be  the  breast  of  a  duck,  sir.  Mark  how 
clean  she  comes  to  the  starnpost.  In  my  opinion  she's  too  good 
to  use  ;  she's  properer  for  a  show.' 

There  is  no  reason  why  he  should  not  have  been  in  earnest, 
for,  as  her  master,  it  was  conceivable  that  he  should  be  proud 
of  her.  For  my  part,  however,  I  could  find  no  hint  of  the 
charms  which  threw  him  into  raptures.  The  vessel  was  a  stout 


THE  -.'  IRON  CHO WN '  1 1 

brig  of  three  hundred  tons,  a,n  excellent  sea-boat,  no  doubt,  with 
the  scantling  of  a  Line-of -battle  ship,  but  she  was  certainly  no 
beauty.  She  was  painted  black,  with  a  narrow  yellow  streak 
running  the  length  of  her  sides,  and  had  been  newly  coppered  to 
the  bends :  the  lustre  of  the  bright  metal  was  under  her,  and 
she  seemed  to  float  in  a  little  surface  of  pale  sunshine.  Sho 
was  loftily  rigged  for  a  craft  of  her  size  and  carried  exceedingly 
square  yards,  whence  I  inferred  that  with  her  studding-sails 
abroad  she  could  expand  canvas  enough  in  a  breeze  of  wind  to 
start  an  island  from  its  moorings.  We  gained  the  side,  climbed 
up  a  stout  rope-ladder,  and  jumped  aboard. 

There  was  a  lighter  on  the  starboard  bow,  and  a  number  of 
intoxicated  lumpers  were  hoisting  in  cargo.  It  should  have 
been  no  new  scene  to  me,  yet  I  found  it  confusing  enough.  The 
sails  were  unbent,  and  the  running  rigging  unrove,  so  there 
were  no  ropes'  ends  to  trip  over.  Nevertheless  the  decks  were 
encumbered  with  all  sorts  of  '  raffle,'  as  sailors  term  lumber — 
casks,  hencoops,  sacks,  planks,  and  I  know  not  what  else 
besides.  There  was  a  full-rigged  ship  a  short  distance  otf 
getting  her  anchor,  and  the  fellows  at  the  windlass  were  roaring 
out  with  hurricane  lungs  one  of  the  many  working  songs  with 
which  the  British  seaman  inspires  his  heart  and  nerves  his 
hands  and  legs.  The  melody  awoke  echoes  long  ago  silent  in 
me.  It  was  at  Cape  Town  that  I  had  heard  it  last,  and  the 
rough  salt  air  brought  the  picture  before  me  in  a  vision  so  clear, 
sunbright,  real — the  blue  waters  of  the  wide  haven,  the  groups 
of  ivory-white  houses  upon  the  low  shore,  the  polished  azure 
back  01  the  huge  Atlantic  comber  poising  its  arched  summit  in 
a  ridge  of  glassy  opal  light  for  a  breath  ere  thundering  its 
burthen  of  snow  upon  the  beach,  the  great  mountains  beyond 
with  streaks  of  lace-like  mist  crawling  along  their  brows  as 
though  the  viewless  spirits  of  the  blue  atmosphere  up  there 
were  spinning  a  white  fabric  of  exquisite  delicacy  out  of  their 
airy  looms  for  the  adornment  of  those  giants'  heads — that  I 
seemed  to  waken  with  a  start  to  Captain  Broadwater's  invita- 
tion to  step  below  and  view  the  cabin. 

One  hears  of  the  Swiss  weeping  when  some  one  tunes  up 
their  national  cow-strain.  Mariners  are  a  people  who  have  no 
tears  to  spare :  what  they  possess  in  that  way  they  devote  to 
their  private  woes  ;  but  I  do  think  nothing  so  stirs  a  man  who 
has  been  a  sailor  as  the  melody  of  a  forecastle  chorus.  Tis 
like  the  wand  of  a  wizard  :  the  curtain  rises  to  it,  and  there 
before  you  lies  the  past — the  rolling  ocean,  the  gallant  fabric 
in  whose  heart  you  scoured  your  thousand  leagues  of  sea,  your 
hearty  shipmates,  the  gay  Saturday  carousal,  the  girl  in  the 
distant  home  from  whose  sunny  head  you  snicked  the  golden 
wisp,  which  manv  a  ti  me  you  have  pressed  to  your  lips  in  some 
tnid-ocean  solitude,  when  there  was  nobody  but  the  man  in  the 
moon  and  the  man  at  the  wheel  to  see  what  you  were  at. 

'I  have  been  a  sailor  myself,  captain,'  said  I,  as  I  followed 


12  MAROONED 

him  to  the  companion-hatch:  'and  the  sound  of  that  stormy 
chorus  out  yonder  makes  me  feel  a  bit  swabbish,  do  you  know, 
for  quitting  the  old  life.' 

'Bin  a  sailor  yourself,  hey  f '  he  cried,  rounding  when  at  the 
bottom  of  the  ladder  to  take  a  view  of  ma  4  Well,  an'  I  dessay 
it  did  ye  no  harm.  There's  worse  people  knocking  about  the 
world  than  sailors,  though  I  haven't  much  respect  for  that 
class  of  'em  which  goes  by  the  name  of  Hands.' 

'  I  see.    Your  sympathies  are  aft.' 

'Well,  I  don't  know  about  that  either,'  he  exclaimed  rather 
warmly,  as  though  he  objected  to  my  considering  that  he  had 
any  sympathies  at  all,  and  methought  that  his  pear-shaped  nose 
as  ne  spoke  took  a  deeper  dye ;  then  with  a  flourish  of  the  arm 
he  said,  *  This  here's  the  cabin.  A  noble  room,  sir.  Must  board 
the  Indiamen  to  find  the  like  of  it.' 

The  vessel  had  so  much  beam  that  her  cabin  was  larger  than 
I  had  expected  to  find  it.  The  furniture  was  simple  enough : 
a  table,  lockers  for  seats,  snuff-coloured  bulkheads  without  any 
sort  of  ornamentation.  At  the  after  end  were  four  cabins,  two 
of  a  side,  whilst  forward  were  other  but  smaller  berths. 

'That  end's  for  the  passengers,'  said  the  captain,  pointing  aft. 

I  inspected  the  accommodation  and  found  it  airy  and  roomy. 

'  Which  are  to  let  I '  I  asked. 

*A11,'  he  replied  ;  'how  many  of  you  are  there,  sirt* 

1  Myself  and  a  lady.' 

'I  reckon  there  '11  be  no  more  then,'  said  he.  'Here's  four 
beautiful  bedrooms  to  choose  from.' 

*  Where  do  you  sleep  ? ' 

4  Forwards  there,'  said  he,  pointing  with  his  nose  as  a  negro 
does  with  his  chin.  '  Me  an  my  first  mate  lodges  there.  The 
bo'sun  who  sarves  as  second  mate  lies  in  the  fo'k'sle.  There's 
no  interference.  You'll  be  as  private  as  a  chick  in  its  egg. 
Case  of  more  coming  I'd  take  the  two  foremost  berths  if  I  was 
you.  The  helm  don't  feel  to  kick  so  much  there,  and  if  the 
chap  at  the  wheel  should  warm  his  toes  by  stamping  you  won't 
hear  him  plain.' 

I  should  have  been  better  pleased  with  a  vessel  of  twice  the 
burthen  of  this  craft ;  but  then,  to  be  sure,  we  should  start  in  the 
height  of  the  summer,  when  the  Bay  of  Biscay  is  least  formidable 
— though  let  me  remember  that  the  hea viest  gale  I  was  ever  in 
was  fifty  miles  south  of  Ushant  in  the  month  of  July — and 
once  clear  of  those  waters  we  had  a  right  to  look  for  quiet 
weather  during  the  rest  of  the  passage.  The  short  chat  I  had 
with  Broadwater  on  returning  on  deck  confirmed  my  first  im- 
pression of  him :  he  was  indeed  no  very  polished  companion  for 
ladies,  but  he  was  well  enough  as  sea-captains  of  his  class  and 
in  his  trade  then  went.  I  was  not  surprised  to  find  that  the 
vessel  did  not  carry  a  stewardess.  You  had  to  look  to  the 
height  of  the  Indiamen  in  those  days  for  luxuries  of  this  kind. 
I  asked  him  what  sort  of  table  he  kept 


WE  EMBARK  18 

'An  A  1  copper  bottom  table/  he  answered.  '  Salt  beef  of  the 
primest — roast  pork — poultry  twice  a  week — currant  dumplings 
— taking  it  all  round,  a  list  nigh  as  long  as  my  arm.' 

'  Pretty  substantial/  I  exclaimed. 

'  Ay,'  said  he,  grinning, '  there's  never  no  twopenny  kickshaws 
to  be  found  aboard  of  me.  No  hishee-hashees  here,  sir,  with 
French  names.  All's  good  solid  eating, — dishes  which  makes  a 
man  feel  that  he's  dined  when  he  gets  up.  Give  me  food  that  11 
coil  a  chap's  appetite  down  for  him.  That's  why,  to  my  notion, 
there's  ne'er  a  bit  of  vittles  on  this  airth  to  beat  a  good  leg 
o'  roast  pork.' 

I  gathered  from  these  observations  that  Miss  Grant  and  I 
'  were  not  likely  to  be  invariably  entertained  to  our  tastes,  and 
that  it  would  therefore  be  necessary  to  lay  in  a  stock  of  wines 
and  stores  for  our  separate  use  ;  and  having  ascertained  that  I 
was  at  liberty  to  fill  one  of  the  hencoops  with  poultry  for  our- 
selves, and  that  if  the  other  cabins  were  unlet  one  of  them  was 
at  my  service  as  a  larder,  I  took  leave  of  him,  and  was  rowed 
ashore,  and  without  further  ado  walked  to  Tower  Hill  and 
engaged  two  berths  in  the  brig  Iron  Crown,  Broadwater  master. 
Also,  at  this  office,  to  save  time,  I  wrote  a  letter  to  my  cousin, 
in  which  I  named  the  vessel  we  were  to  sail  in  and  the  date  of 
our  departure,  and  handed  it  to  the  owner  of  the  Iron  Grown  to 
transmit  with  dispatches  of  his  own  to  Bio  by  the  ship  Amaaon 
proceeding  next  day. 


CHAPTER  IV 

WB  EMBAKK 

As  the  brig  did  not  sail  for  another  week,  and  as  we  intended 
to  join  her  at  DeaL  which  would  give  us  two  or  three  days 
ashore  beyond  the  date  of  her  departure  from  the  Thames,  I 
procured  rooms  for  Miss  Grant  in  a  private  hotel  near  Bond 
btreet,  so  that  I  was  within  convenient  reach  and  saw  much  of 
her.  In  truth  the  poverty  and  melancholy  of  the  street  in  which 
she  had  lodged  rendered  the  very  name  of  it  intolerable  to  her, 
and  the  gloomy  influence  of  the  house  upon  her  spirits  was  made 
more  oppressive  yet  by  the  recollection  of  her  father's  sufferings 
and  death  and  her  own  privation  in  it. 

The  change  from  such  lodgings  to  the  comforts  of  a  hotel,  the 
sudden  removal  from  her  mind  of  the  distracting  burthen  of 
poverty  and  anxiety,  the  feeling  that  I  was  by  her  side  and  that 
she  had  a  protector  in  me,  and  that  in  a  few  weeks  she  would  be 
with  her  sweetheart  and  married  to  him,  combined  to  make 
another  woman  of  her  in  those  eight  or  ten  days.  Her  eyes 
shone  with  a  clearer  light,  and  their  dark  luminous  depths 
gathered  a  softness  beyond  description  from  the  happiness  that 


14  MAROONED 

was  in  her.  A  delicate  bloom  lay  upon  her  cheeks,  her  laugh 
was  sincere,  her  smiles  full  of  an  honest  gaiety.  As  we  walked 
together  I  would  notice  that  both  men  and  women  stopped  to 
stare  after  her.  I  remember  an  old  dandy,  with  his  hat  cocked 
and  a  tuft  on  his  chin,  coming  to  a  dead  stand  on  seeing  her, 
then  following  us  and  passing  as  an  excuse  to  turn  again  to 
have  another  look.  I  will  not  say  that  she  was  insensible  to  the 
admiration  she  excited — she  would  have  been  no  true  woman  to 
feign  such  a  thing — but  I  cannot  conceive  that  any  girl  could 
have  shown  herself  less  affected  by  it. 

We  took  the  coach  for  Deal  early  on  a  Friday  morning.  The 
journey  was  long  and  tedious.  It  was  after  sunset  when  we  sat 
down  to  the  dinner  I  had  ordered  in  a  quaint  hotel  that  looked 
directly  upon  the  sea ;  but  the  moon  rode  high,  clear  as  crystal 
in  the  dark  blue  air,  and  her  glorious  reflection  came  to  the  very 
margin  of  the  beach,  upon  whose  shingle  the  rippling  summer 
breakers  trembled  into  snow,  in  a  fan-shaped  path  of  glory  that 
floated  as  steadily  upon  the  quiet  surface  as  the  orb  nerself  in 
the  breathless  sky. 

After  dinner  we  walked  to  the  Esplanade.  The  luggers  lying 
high  and  dry  looked  hoary  in  the  clear  and  icy  light ;  the  sea- 
ward-gazing windows  sparkled  out  to  the  gush  of  the  radiance 
in  silver  stars ;  every  shadow  lay  like  an  ebony  carving  upon  a 
sand-white  ground.  Far  away,  past  the  yellow  winking  spots 
of  the  signal  lanterns  floating  off  the  Goodwins,  was  the  fitful 
flashing  of  violet  lightning.  The  planets  hung  large  and  burnt 
richly,  and  clear  of  the  sphere  of  mist-like  radiance  that  circled 
the  moon,  the  stars  shone  in  such  numbers  that  I  never  remem- 
ber witnessing  the  heavens  so  crowded.  After  the  roaring  of 
metropolitan  streets,  the  low  washing  sound  of  the  surf  along 
the  coast  was  inexpressibly  soothing  and  refreshing,  and  one's 
blood  coursed  to  the  cool  sweetness  of  the  ocean  atmosphere  as 
to  a  draught  of  rare  and  generous  cordial. 

There  were  many  ships  in  the  Downs,  wan  and  spectral  in  the 
moonshine.  Their  riding-lights  resembled  a  swarm  of  fire-flies. 
By  bending  the  ear  you^  caught  from  the  nearer  vessels  the 
sounds  of  laughter,  the  thin  strains  of  a  concertina,  the  clank  of 
a^ chain  cable  dragged  along  the  deck;  or  from  the  further 
distance  the  faint  chorusing  of  a  crew  pulling  and  hauling 
aboard  some  hidden  craft  that  had  softly  sneaked  into  the 
Downs  on  the  top  of  the  subtle  tide. 

'  Which  amid  that  ashen  muddle  of  ships  out  yonder  will  be 
ours,  I  wonder  ? '  said  I. 

'  How  ghostly  is  the  atmosphere  that  is  made  by  moonlight  at 
sea!'  exclaimed  Miss  Grant,  sending  her  glance  along  the 
shining  wake  of  the  luminary,  and  then  looking  into  the  eastern 
darkness  and  talking  as  if  she  spoke  to  herself.  '  It  must  be  the 
low-lying  stars,  I  think,  which  cause  the  distance  to  appear  so 
terribly  remote.  The  beauty  of  such  a  night  as  this  used  to  awe 
me  when  we  were  coming  to  England-  it  does  so  now,  though  I 


WE  EMBARK  16 

am  on  dry  land.  It  should  be  as  lovely  to  me  as  to  others,  but 
it  is  not  so.  The  mystery  of  it  is  too  great — the  mystery  of  the 
silence  and  the  pale  air  and  the  whispering  of  the  sea  along  the 
shore.' 

'  It  may  be  that  what  is  mysterious  cannot  be  beautiful,'  said 
I,  finding  talk  of  this  sort  a  little  above  mine  art,  though  not 
wanting  her  to  think  that  I  did  not  understand  her  either.  *  Yet 
I  don't  Know.  I  have  seen  eyes  in  my  time  as  secret  as  the  dark 
sea  yonder,  and  they  were  •wonderfully  beautiful,  I  assure  you.' 

As  I  said  this  a  rumbling  voice  close  behind  me  exclaimed, 
'Bort,  sir?  beautiful  noight  for  a  row,  sir  I  Water  smooth  as 
satin,  lady.' 

I  turned  and  observed  a  Deal  boatman. 

'  No — we  shall  have  enough  of  the  sea  presently.  Can  you  tell 
me  if  a  vessel  named  the  Iron  Crown  has  brought  up  off  here?' 

'  What's  she  Ipike '( '  he  asked. 

'A  brig,'  I  said,  'three  hundred  tons,  newly  sheathed,  painted 
black  with  a  yellow  stripe.' 

'  Is  her  capt'n  a  man  with  werry  small  eyes  an'  a  nose  loike  a 
sailor's  duff?' 

'That's  right' 

'  Then  she  brought  up  just  afore  sundown.  Oi  was  off  fishin* 
with  a  party  at  the  time,  and  the  chap  Oi've  described  sung  out 
to  me  to  git  out  of  the  road,'  and  he  pointed  seawards  with  a 
shadowy  hand ;  but  it  was  impossible  to  distinguish  any  one 
ship  among  the  congregation  there.  He  hung  about  me  a  little 
as_ though  he  would  engage  me  in  further  conversation,  and  then 
said,  'Werry  thirsty  weather,  sir.'  I  gave  him  the  value  of  a 
glass  of  ale  and  he  left  us. 

'At  the  head  of  human  disenchanters,'  said  I,  'stands  the 
British  longshore-man  with  his  cry  of  "  Bprt,  sir." ' 

'  Hark  ! '  exclaimed  my  companion,  lifting  her  linger. 

It  was  half-past  nine,  and  the  bells  out  upon  the  water  were 
sounding  the  hour.  There  were  probably  two  hundred  sail  in 
the  Downs.  The  tinkling  ran  in  ripples,  as  though  a  wave  of  air 
raised  scores  of  metallic  echoes  of  different  tones  as  it  swept 
onwards.  Some  of  the  bells  sounded  simultaneously ;  some 
followed  one  another  in  chimes  ;  a  few  were  mellow,  many  shrill, 
more  yet  of  a  silver  singing  cadence.  From  the  pallid  remote- 
ness the  tones  came  in  faint  and  tiny  sounds,  after  which  fell 
the  silence,  and  you  heard  nothing  but  the  fountain-like  seething 
of  foam  upon  the  shingle. 

We  returned  to  the  hotel,  but  I  lingered,  after  Miss  Grant  had 
retired,  for  a  long  hour  upon  the  balcony  overlooking  the  sea, 
smoking  a  cigar  and  musing  much  on  the  girl  and  my  cousin 
Fraser,  and  the  voyage  on  which  we  should  probably  start 
next  day.  The  moon  hung  over  the  Downs,  and  through  the 
steady  rain  of  her  silver  twinkled  the  yellow  sparks  of  the 
ships  lights.  There  was  a  lugger  heading  for  Deal  and  coming 
fair  down  the  middle  of  the  ice-like  path  upon  the  waters. .  She 


16  MAROONED 

floated  black  against  the  tremulous  shining  that  went  up  behind 
her  to  the  sea-line,  and  as  you  marked  her  sweeps  or  long  oars 
rising  and  falling,  you  would  have  imagined  her  some  gigantic 
marine  insect  stealthily  creeping  shorewards.  From  overy  lifted 
blade  the  water  dripped  to  the  moonshine  in  diamonds,  and  the 
cheep,  cheep  of  the  oars  grinding  betwixt  the  thole-pins  sent  the 
fancy  roaming  to  the  tropic  swamp  and  to  the  mysterious 
croakings  of  the  tree-toad. 

I  was  up  betimes,  but  Miss  Aurelia  was  before  me.  She  looked 
as  fresh  and  as  fragrant  as  Cowper's  rose  newly  washed  by  a 
shower. 

'  The  sea,'  said  I, '  promises  to  use  you  kindly.' 

4  Yes,  and  I  feel  well  too,  which  is  better  than  looking  so.' 

She  was  robed  in  black,  her  dress  fitted  her  excellently, 
her  hair  was  coiled  into  the  likeness  of  a  crown,  her  dark  eyes 
were  full  of  fire  and  life.  I  did  not  much  like  to  think  of  her  as 
being  obliged  to  sit  and  converse  with  such  a  man  as  Broadwater 
and  with  such  people  as  his  mates  were  tolerably  certain  to 
prove.  But  it  could  not  be  helped  ;  though  when  the  captain's 
purple  face  came  into  my  head,  I  felt  that  I  should  have  been 
ungenerous  and  mean  indeed  to  have  suffered  her  to  sail  alone. 
There  was  a  light  breeze  from  the  southward.  The  upward- 
bound  vessels  had  got  under  way,  and  the  picture  was  gay  and 
brilliant  with  the  crowded  white  canvas  of  the  numerous  craft, 
the  sparkling  of  the  sun  in  the  running  waters,  the  fitful  flash- 
ings of  the  wet  oars  of  boats,  the  light  blue  sky  with  a  stretch 
of  ivory-like  crescents  of  clouds,  resembling  new  moons  linked 
and  compacted,  going  down  to  the  sea-line,  where  a  leaning  sail 
or  two  gleamed  like  Little  obelisks  of  Parian  marble.  Miss  Grant 
came  to  my  side  and  we  stood  gazing  together.  Presently  a 
waiter  arrived,  asked  if  my  name  was  Musgrave,  and  said  there 
was  a  gentleman  inquiring  for  me.  A  moment  or  two  afterwards 
Captain  Broadwater  entered. 

He  gave  Miss  Grant  a  bow  that  was  a  sheer  convulsion  in  its 
way,  and  said,  'I  thought  I'd  look  in  here,  sir,  afore  I  went 
aboard.  There  '11  be  nothing  to  keep  us  when  you  and  the  lady 
are  over  the  side.  There's  not  much  weight  in  this  here  wind, 
but  the  tide  sarves.  and  I'm  never  for  waiting  when  there's  a 
chance  to  get  away. 

4  You  are  very  right,'  said  I ;  'but  we  haven't  breakfasted  yet, 
captain.  There's  time  enougn  for  that  I  hope  ? '  and  thinking 
he  was  going  to  obiect,  I  added,  'You'll  join  us?  Nothing  like 
shoregoing  food  ana  cooking  down  to  the  last  moment.' 

He  answered  that  he  had  already  breakfasted,  but  that  on 
reflection  he  felt  himself  equal  to  another  meal,  and  the  waiter 
arriving  with  the  ham  and  coffee,  we  sat  down.  I  have  seen  men 
with  immense  appetites  in  my  day,  but  no  man  who  ever  came 
near  to  Broadwater  in  this  way.  It  was  not  only  the  quantity 
he  devoured :  it  was  the  rapidity  with  which  he  ate.  He  took 
ft  hot  roll,  tore  the  crumb  out,  buttered  and  then  bolted  the  whole. 


WE  EMBARK  17 

without  winking  and  in  a  breath.  He  picked  up  an  egg-spoon, 
and  after  inspecting  it  an  instant  called  the  waiter,  and  asked 
him  what  it  was.  The  waiter  explained.  *  Bring  me  a  proper 
spoon ! '  he  roared  in  a  voice  that  caused  Miss  Grant  to  start 
and  glance  at  me  with  a  little  air  of  consternation.  The  man 
handed  him  a  dessert  spoon,  with  which  he  struck  the  egg  as 
though  it  had  been  a  sailor's  head,  then  scooped  out  the  inside 
and  swallowed  the  whole,  afterwards  seizing  another  egg,  all  so 
quickly  that  it  was  like  watcliing  the  performance  of  a  conjuror. 
He  never  offered  to  speak  a  word  until  he  had  eaten  as  much 
breakfast  as  would  have  sufficed  me  for  a  week,  though  he  made 
an  end  before  Miss  Grant  and  I  had  fairly  begun.  My  com- 
panion looked  at  me  as  if  she  would  say,  I  told  you  what  sort  of 
people  the  captains  are  in  this  trade !  I  was  more  struck,  how- 
ever, by  his  manner  of  roaring  to  the  waiter  than  by  the  rest  of 
his  behaviour.  '  If  this  is  not  a  ship's  bully  all  of  the  olden  time,' 
I  thought  to  myself, '  let  his  appetite  be  called  delicate.' 

He  now  began  to  tell  me  in  a  hoarse  voice  about  his  passage 
down  the  river  to  the  Downs,  and  how  a  West  Indiainan  in 
bringing  up  at  midnight  had  fouled  his  cable  and  nearly  run 
aboard  him.  'But,'  said  he,  'there's  no  seamanship  to  be 
expected  from  the  men  who  gets  command  of  them  big  ships. 
They're  hired  for  their  faces  and  their  tricks  of  speechifying  and 
caper-cutting  and  grinning  out  answers  without  losing  their 
tempers  when  the  ladies  bother  'em  with  questions.  Put  them 
into  a  situation  that  requires  real  nautical  knowledge  and  they 
can  only  stand  and  look  on.  If  you  want  to  be  cut  down  or 
your  spars  brought  about  your  ears,  them's  the  gents  to  show 
ye  how  it's  done. 

All  this  was  very  pig-headed  talk  ;  but  if  he  should  prove,  as 
I  suspected,  full  01  salt-prejudices  and  antique  sea-notions,  I  at 
all  events  should  not  be  without  one  favourite  source  of  diversion 
during  the  voyage. 

Our  baggage  was  on  board  the  brig.  The  little  we  had  with 
us  was  conveyed  to  one  of  the  vessels  boats  that  was  lying  off 
the  beach  waiting  for  the  captain.  Miss  Grant  sprang  to  the 
gunwale  and  thence  to  a  thwart  with  inimitable  grace  that  was 
full  of  a  generous  disdain  of  the  extended  hand  of  one  of  the 
seamen.  I  followed,  and  Broadwater  bundled  in  after  me. 
'Shove  off!'  he  bawled  as  though  in  a  passion.  The  boat's 
head  was  slewed  for  the  brig,  and  the  three  men  fell  to  their  oars. 

There  were  fifty  things  to  admire  as  our  little  keel  was  swept 
forwards :  the  gray  bald  stare  of  the  Foreland  point  with  the 
sheen  of  the  chalk  trembling  off  it  upon  the  blue  atmosphere 
beyond;  the  ships  still  at  anchor  growing  large  to  our  ap- 
proach, their  glossy  sides  twinkling  to  the  rippling  lustre  in  the 
water  like  the  tremble  of  sunlight  amid  the  shadows  of  dancing 
leaves :  the  sudden  flash  of  a  cabin  window  to  the  movement 
of  the  null,  as  though  a  cannon  had  been  fired  from  it ;  the  vari- 
ous colours  and  devices  of  a  dozen. different  nations'  ensigns 

0 


18  MAKOONED 

languidly  fluttering  their  bright  folds  from  masthead  and  peak ; 
the  line  of  green  and  yellow  coast  sweeping  into  an  airy  dimness 
of  pallid  cliff  as  wan  in  tne  distance  of  the  brilliant  north  as 
the  crescent  of  the  moon  floating  in  the  noontide  heavens  ;  the 
quaint  aspect  of  the  hearty  old  smuggling  town,  whose  fore- 
ground ot  brown  shingle  gleamed  black  to  the  recoil  of  the 
washing  breaker,  whilst  it  offered  the  saltest  imaginable  picture 
in  the  shape  of  fleets  of  yellow  luggers  high  and  dry,  and  the 
figures  of  boatmen  lounging,  scrubbing,  mending  nets,  and 
boiling  pitch-pots. 

There  were  plenty  of  things,  I  say,  to  look  at,  yet  I  do  not 
remember  that  I  took  notice  of  much  outside  the  three  men 
who  were  rowing  us  to  the  brig.  They  belonged  of  course  to 
the  ship's  company.  One  was  a  half-blood  of  a  dark  olive 
complexion  and  eyes  like  sloes  resting  on  slices  of  lemon.  His 
hands  were  as  small  as  a  girl's,  beautifully  shaped,  though 
corned  and  horny  and  palm-blackened  by  the  tar  and  drudgery 
of  shipboard.  The  others  were  plain  ginger-haired  British 
lobscousers — one  with  a  beard  of  stubble  that  projected  from 
his  chin  like  the  thatch  of  a  sou'- wester,  both  knob-nosed  and 
rugged  as  the  shell  of  a  walnut.  Their  feet  were  naked,  their 
mossy  breasts  lay  bare  to  the  light,  their  nervous  muscular  arms 
were  decorated  with  bracelets,  crucifixes,  anchors,  female  figures, 
pricked  in  with  the  pale  blue  of  the  sailor's  pigment.  All  three 
of  them  wore  a  sullen  look — not  the  expression  of  evil-minded 
men,  but  of  persons  rendered  sulky  and  resentful  by  ill-usage. 
I  saw  the  half-blood  glance  at  Miss  Grant,  and  a  sort  of  light 
broke  upon  his  face  and  swept  the  dogged  air  out  of  it  as  a 
smile  clears  a  sour  brow ;  but  his  eye  instantly  went  from  her 
to  Broad  water  and  fell,  a  singular  look  of  loathing  and  hate 
darkened  his  countenance,  and  I  witnessed  the  impulse  of  a 
violent  emotion  in  him  in  the  quick  savage  swing  he  gave  his  oar. 
It  was  like  a  curse  ! 

Here  were  tokens  not  to  please  me.  who,  as  a  man  that  had 
passed  some  years  at  sea,  had  preserved  an  eye  for  the  interpret- 
ation of  sailors'  meanings.  If  the  crew  were  dissatisfied  at  this 
early  stage,  then  old  Broadwater  and  his  mates  must  have  gone 
to  work  with  an  incredible  promptitude  to  make  their  true 
characters  known  to  them.  Had  they  a  grievance?  Their 
provisions  would  have  been  fresh  meat  and  loaves  of  bread 
down  to  this  point,  and  they  could  not  therefore  know  what 
the  forecastle  stores  were  like.  Was  the  vessel  leaky  ?  It  was 
to  be  hoped  she  was  not.  No ;  it  could  be  nothing  less  than 
Broadwater.  Well,  if  the  men  were  growling  now,  what  would 
be  their  posture  later  on  ?  I  was  sufficiently  well  acquainted 
with  the  character  of  merchant  seamen  to  know  that  often  the 
very  best  sailors  amongst  them  are  those  who  curse  the  deepest 
in  their  gizzards.  I  was  also  aware  that  there  was  nothing 
uncommon  in  a  crew  finding  plenty  of  time  and  excuses  to 
mutiny  in  a  run  from  BlackwaU  to  the  Forelands,  going  ashore 


THE  VOYAGE  BEGINS  19 

bag  and  baggage  in  a  body,  and  obliging  the  ship  to  wait  off 
Deal  until  the  crimps  coula  roll  a  ne\y  crew  into  her  forecastle. 
All  this  was,  as  it  still  is,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  the  ocean 
life.  But  the  looks  of  the  three  thinly-clad  fellows  made  you 
think  of  something  more  significant  than  the  familiar  causes  of 
the  forecastle  rebellion. 

However,  they  pulled  too  briskly  to  give  me  time  to  consider 
them  very  attentively.  The  boat  buzzed  through  the  water, 
and  the  brig  ahead  rapidly  enlarged  unon  the  view. 

'  Is  that  the  ship  ?'  exclaimed  Miss  Grant. 

I  answered  yes. 

4  Is  there  anything  afloat  to  beat  her  ? '  exclaimed  Broadwater 
in  a  deep-sea  voice. 

The  half-blood  turned  his  head  upon  his  shoulder  as  if  he 
•would  have  his  mates  observe  what  was  in  his  mind  by  his  look. 

'  Oars  ! '  bawled  the  captain.  '  Out  boat-hook,  you  dog ! '  to 
the  man  in  the  bows.  '  Good  thunder  ! '  he  growled  ;  '  what  is 
there  to  make  the  sojers  who  ship  as  sailors  nowadays  skip  if 
it  ain't  gunpowder  in  their  shoes  and  a  lighted  match  'twbtt 
tliHJr  toesT 

\7e  swung  alongside  and  gained  the  deck. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  VOYAGE  BEGINS 

THE  moment  Captain  Broadwater'a  foot  was  on  shipboard  he 
shouted  out,  '  Mail  the  windlass,  Mr.  Bothwell  !  Get  this  here 
boat  hoisted,  some  or  youj  Jump,  bullies,  jump  !  There's  wind 
enough  to  blow  us  away  if  ye  don  t  stop  to  curl  your  hair  ! '  which 
said,  he  forthwith  fell  to  bundling  about  on  his  rounded  shanks, 
running  here  and  there,  looking  round  and  aloft,  bawling  to  the 
mate  who  had  gone  forward,  and  apparently  employing  every 
art  of  which  he  was  master  to  render  the  scene  of  commotion 
one  of  sheer  distraction. 

There  seemed  about  fourteen  of  a  crew  not  counting  the  captain 
and  mate.  A  few  of  them  came  to  the  davits  to  get  the  boat  up, 
the  rest  laid  hold  of  the  windlass  handles  and  began  to  heave. 
You  heard  the  clank,  clank  of  the  pawls  and  the  grinding  chink 
of  the  cable  coming  in  link  by  link.  '  Sing  out,  my  liyelies ! 
heave  to  the  girls,  lads !  heave  and  sing  !  heave  ana  raise  the 
dead  !  sing  out,  men  !  clap  a  tune  to  your  muscles,  my  splicers  ! 
heave  ! '  cried  out  the  mate  (as  I  supposed  the  dark  young  fellow 
who  spoke  these  words  to  be),  and  1  was  not  a  little  relieved  to 
hear  after  a  minute  or  two  the  peculiar  long-drawn  notes  of  a 
seaman  breaking  into  a  working  song,  followed  at  the  proper 
interval  by  the  whole  body  of  men  delivering  the  chorus  with 
tUo  true  old  hurricane  ixote.  _  It  would  have  been  a  bad  sign  luid 


20  MAROONED 

they  not  sung.    Only  a  sailor  would  appreciate  the  meaning  of 
silence  among  the  crew  of  a  merchantman  getting  her  anchor. 

I  took  Miss  Grant  below  to  show  her  her  berth.  There  was 
no  smiling  and  curtseying  stewardess  to  receive  her ;  no  obliging 
steward  and  his  mates  to  fly  to  my  bidding.  The  very  cabin-boy 
was  at  the  windlass,  and  there  was  nothing  living  under  deck  if 
it  were  not  a  lurking  cockroach  or  a  concealed  rat.  But  then 
happily  we  could  not  miss  what  we  had  not  been  used  to,  nor 
complain  of  the  omission  of  what  we  had  no  reason  to  expect. 
Put  the  mail-boat  traveller  of  to-day  back  fifty  years,  and  he 
would  probably  be  the  most  forlorn  and  melancholy  sea-borne 
object  under  the  sky.  I  had  forgotten  to  ask  Captain  Broad  water 
if  there  were  other  passengers,  but  there  was  no  further  need  to 
trouble  him  :  the  doors  of  the  berths  were  open,  and  a  single 
glance  sufficed  to  let  me  know  that  Miss  Grant  and  I  were  alone. 
All  for  the  best  no  doubt,  thought  I ;  think  of  some  fellow  here 
in  these  pent-up  quarters  with  a  snore  like  the  escape  of  steam, 
or  of  some  lean  splenetic  Spaniard,  constantly  ill,  and  full  of 
growings  in  smooth  water  and  of  aves  and  litanies  in  stormy 
weather ! 

*  It  is  not  every  one  who  would  choose  to  sail  with  Captain 
Broadwater,'  said  Miss  Grant,  evidently  surprised  at  our  being 
the  only  passengers. 

'You  do  not  like  him!  I  am  sorry.  I  was  glad  to  get  an 
early  ship — ' 

'  No,  no,  Mr.  Musgrave,  I  do  not  mean  that.  How  could  you 
tell  what  sort  of  a  person  he  would  prove  to  be  ?  I  think  you 
will  find  that  he  treats  his  crew  inhumanly.' 

I  lifted  my  eyebrows;  I  had  not  imagined  she  would  have 
seen  so  quickly  into  such  a  matter  as  that. 

*  Nor,'  continued  she,  smiling,  '  do  I  fancy  that  we  shall  find 
him  a  very  agreeable  table  companion.    But  no  matter.    Rio  is 
not  so  very,  very  far  off  now  ! ' 

We  exchanged  these  sentences  whilst  we  stood  before  our 
cabin  doors.  Our  luggage  lay  in  a  heap  aft  against  the  transom, 
but  it  was  better  there  than  in  the  hold.  There  was  no  one  to 
help  us,  and  so  we  shifted  for  ourselves.  Between  us  we  dragged 
the  boxes  and  portmanteaux  into  our  berths,  and  I  found  a  new 
quality  to  admire  in  Miss  Grant  in  the  form  of  a  sturdy  spirit 
of  independence.  No  complaints,  no  regrets,  no  peevish  mur- 
murs over  our  being  neglected.  I  recollect  that  I  thought, 
Were  we  to  be  cast  away,  here  is  the  girl  to  show  the  sailors  how 
to  manage.  Little  did  I  imagine  what  was  before  us  when  that 
fancy  passed  through  my  head  ! 

The  necessary  furniture  for  sleeping  lay  in  my  bunk,  but  it 
was  evident  I  should  have  to  make  my  own  bed.  In  the  spare 
cabin  next  mine  was  our  private  stock  of  provisions.  I  cast  my 
eyes  over  the  hampers  and  cases,  and  knowing  what  they  con- 
tained, considered  that,  taking  our  live  stock  into  account,  we 
should  fare  on  the  whole  tolerably  enough.  Calling  to  Miss  Grant 


THE  .VOYAGE  BEGINS  21 

that  she  would  find  me  on  deck,  I  mounted  the  companion-ladder, 
and  on  emerging  discovered  that  the  crew  had  tripped  the  anchor 
and  were  running  about  making  sail.  There  were  many  vessels 
getting  under  way  at  this  time,  and  the  picture  was  full  of 
animation  and  colour.  The  jib  had  been  hoisted,  and  the  brig's 
head  was  slowly  paying  off;  hands  aloft  were  shouting  to  the 
people  below  to  hoist  away  and  sheet  home ;  the  men  on  deck 
were  hoarsely  bawling  as  they  dragged  upon  the  sheets  and 
halliards  j  purple-faced  old  Broad  water  standing  near  the  wheel 
was  roaring  out  orders  in  whole  volleys,  and  the  mate  in  the 
waist,  who  nad  a  singularly  shrill  voice  for  a  man,  heightened 
the  general  clamour  by  re-echoing  the  captain's  orders  in  notes 
.which  sounded  like  screams.  As  if  all  this  were  not  distracting 
enough,  the  pigs  under  the  long-boat,  irritated  by  neglect,  by 
fasting,  or  by  the  hubbub  about  them,  were  squealing  as  though 
somebody  were  stirring  them  up,  whilst  the  concert  was  still 
further  intensified  by  the  crowing  and  the  cackling  of  the  cocks 
and  hens  in  the  coops.  That  the  sailors  should  sing  out  at  the 
ropes  was  reasonable  and  desirable  ;  seamen  as  they  haul  take 
time  from  their  songs,  otherwise  the  business  of  hoisting,  brac- 
ing up,  sheeting-home  would  be  like  drawing  teeth.  But  what 
purpose  could  Captain  Broadwater  serve  by  roaring  to  his  crew 
as  it  they  were  a  company  of  villains  whom  nothing  short  of 
noise  and  execrations  could  urge  to  exertions  ? 

As  I  stood  looking  on,  my  eye  was  taken  by  the  mate.  He 
was  a  man  apparently  of  my  own  age,  tall  and  thin,  with 
nothing  of  the  air  of  a  sailor  about  him.  His  complexion  was 
exceedingly  sallow,  but  his  features  were  strikingly  handsome — 
such  a  nose,  mouth,  and  forehead  as  you  would  expect  to  find 
only  in  some  marble  fancy  of  a  heathen  deity.  His  eyes  were 
large  and  black  and  amazingly  rapid  in  their  movements,  inso- 
much it  seemed  incredible  that  glances  could  be  darted  with 
the  swiftness  I  witnessed  in  this  man.  An  extraordinary  point 
was,  his  hair  was  that  of  a  negro  :  as  sheer  curly  black  wool  as 
ever  adorned  the  pate  of  a  Mumbo-Juinbo.  It  was  a  very 
puzzling  feature,  for  assuredly  there  was  no  more  of  the  African 
in  him  than  there  was  in  me.  He  had  a  small  moustache^  and 
only  needed  a  sombrero  hat,  a  cutlass,  and  a  girdle  full  of  pistols 
to  offer  the  completest  imaginable  copy  of  a  pirate.  His  shrill 
words  leapt  as  rapidly  from  his  lips  as  his  glances  from  his  eyes, 
but  he  seemed  incapable  of  delivering  even  the  most  common- 
place order  without  temper.  His  English  was  that  of  an  educated 
man,  nor  could  I  discover  that  it  was  tainted  in  the  least  degree 
by  a  foreign  accent. 

Before  long  all  plain  sail  had  been  made,  and  the  brig  with 
her  bowsprit  pointing  to  a  down-Channel  course  was  leaning 
slightly  under  the  pressure  of  the  summer  breeze,  and  pushing 
gently  through  the  trembling  blue  surface.  The  men  had  ceased 
their  songs ;  there  was  no  further  occasion  for  the  captain  to 
bawl,  and  something  like  silence  was  upon  the  little  ship.  .Well, 


22  MAROONED 

thought  I,  here  am  I  fairly  started  at  last !  and  as  I  looked  "atf 
the  town  of  Deal  sparkling  to  the  high  sun,  and  at  the  old  chalk 
ramparts  soaring  to  the  brow  of  the  Foreland  giant,  a  queer 
feeling  thickened  niy  sight  for  an  instant,  though  it  vanished 
•with  the '  Pshaw ! '  it  evoked  from  me.  But  this  was  an  old  weak- 
ness. I  believe  had  I  used  the  ocean  for  twenty  years,  and  was 
still  going  a  voyage  every  twelvemonth,  the  sight  of  the  cliffs 
of  the  old  home  quietly  sliding  away  on  the  quarter  and  melting 
into  the  blue  atmosphere  would  affect  me  as  it  did  in  my  boyhood.' 

I  turned  to  join  the  captain,  and  was  confronted  by  Miss  Grant. 
The  joyousness  in  her  face  seemed  to  rebuke  me.  She  had 
brought  her  hands  together,  and  was  gazing  from  the  sails  to 
the  land  with  her  lips  parted,  her  breath  coming  and  going 
quickly,  her  eyes  full  of  gladness. 

*  There  is  one  gay  heart  aboard,'  said  I  quietly. 

*It  is  like  a  dreaip  to  me,  Mr.  Musgrave,  she  exclaimed, 
*when  I  think  of  my  dull  lodgings,  and  the  thoughts  that  terri- 
fied me  there — the  artfad  of  never  seeing  Alexander  again — and 
now  to  find  myself  going  to  him — only  a  few  weeks  between  us, — 
a  kind  friend  by  my  side — I,  who  a  few  days  ago  had  no  friend — ' 
She  paused  and  repeated  almost  in  a  whisper,  'It  is  like  a 
dream  to  me.' 

'It  is  real  enough,'  I  exclaimed;  'yonder  is  stuff  much  too 
substantial  to  serve  as  a  fabric  for  the  manufacture  of  visions,') 
and  I  glanced  in  the  direction  of  Captain  Broad  water,  who,  now 
that  his  ship  was  fairly  under  way,  had  started  on  the  regular 
pendulum  walk  of  the  quarter-deck — a  true  sea-sawing  from 
abreast  of  the  wheel  to  forward  of  the  main  shrouds,  with  a  stare 
aloft,  a  look  to  windward,  and  then  a  spin  of  the  heels  for  another 
turn  :  and  so  on  as  I  have  seen  the  thing  done  right  through  a 
four  hours'  watch. 

'  Who  is  that  man  ? '  asked  Miss  Grant,  indicating  the  chief 
mate,  who  was  standing  in  the  gangway  with  his  eye  aloft  to 
witness,  if  he  could,  any  imperfection  in  the  trim  of  the  yards 
and  the  set  of  the  sails.  I  told  her,  and  added, '  He  looks  fitter 
for  the  stage  than  for  shipboard.  I  hope  I  dp  not  misjudge  him ; 
but  if  he  would  not  knife  a  sailor  with  as  little  compunction  as 
he  would  harpoon  a  dolphin,  then  the  cut  of  his  jib  badly  libels 
his  soul.' 

Shp  watched  him  with  fast  failing  curiosity,  an<*  presently  sent 
her  gaze  seawards.  The  draught  of  air  had  slightly  freshened ; 
we  were  slipping  past  the  South  Foreland  and  opening  the 
broad  range  of  the  Channel  over  the  starboard  bow.  There  was 
a  small  swell  here  too,  just  enough  to  give  a  slight  lift  and  fall 
to  the  jibboom,  and  to  raise  a  faint  seething  noise  at  the  cut- water, 
along  with  the  airy  tinkle  of  foam-bells  sliding  iridiscent  as 
beads  of  oil  into  the  eddies  of  the  short  wake  under  the  counter. 
There  were  ships  all  about  us,  and  upon  the  far  sea-line  you 
saw  the  snow-like  sliining  of  canvcs,  serenely  luminous  as  any 
r,  and  the  dim  pearly  shadow  beyond  of  the  cou.-.;t  of  Franco. 


THE  VOYAGE 'BEGINS  123 

I  walked  aft  with  Miss  Grant  to  survey  the  brig  from  the  best 
place  in  which  a  ship  is  to  be  viewed  when  you  are  aboard  her, 
and  here  we  were  joined  by  Broadwater,  who,  as  he  approached 
us,  pulled  out  and  cast  his  little  eyes  upon  an  immense,  almost 
round,  silver  watch.  ^- 

'Pretty  nigh  time  to  go  to  dinner,'  said  he.  'It's  a  blessed 
ehing  to  be  born  with  a  good  appetite.  There's  never  no  harm 
in  a  man  that  eats  hearty.  I'd  rather  judge  of  a  fellow-being's 
conscience  by  his  appetite  than  by  his  actions.' 

'  What  country  does  your  chief  mate  belong  to  ? '  I  inquired. 

'  That's  more  than  I  can  tell  you,  sir,'  he  replied.  '  He  calls 
himself  a  Scotchman,  but  his  hair  don't  look  North  Country. 
His  name's  Both  well — Neil  Both  well.  He's  the  proper  sort  of 
man  for  sailors.  Never  was  a  chap  who  could  work  up  old  iron 
like  him.' 

*Are  sailors  animals,  that  they  require  working  up,  as  you 
term  it  1 '  inquired  Miss  Grant. 

'Well, perhaps  they  ain't,  Miss,'  he  replied.  'Animal's  too  soft 
a  term  tor  'em.  The  proper  word's  beast — wild  beast,  mum ; 
there  ye  have  it ! ' 

I  observed  that  whenever  this  captain  laboured  under  any 
sudden  excitement  his  nose  reddened  to  it,  as  though  emotion 
could  find  no  other  feature  to  express  itself  in,  owing  to  his 
eyes  being  much  too  small  to  convey  his  mind,  and  to  the  purple 
meshes  which  overspread  his  countenance  like  a  net  that  pre- 
vented any  particular  expression  of  intelligence  from  rising  to 
the  surface.  Methought  there  was  something  malevolent  in  the 
air  with  which  he  turned  his  eyes  from  Miss  Grant  to  cast  a 
glance  aloft. 

'Nothing  off!  nothing  off!'  he  suddenly  shouted,  whipping 
round  upon  the  fellow  that  was  steering ;  '  where  d'ye  think 
the  ship's  bound  to,  you  scowbanker  ?  Keep  her  to  her  course  1 ' 
He  rolled  menacingly  to  the  wheel  and  addressed  the  man  in  a 
low  voice,  whilst  he  thrust  his  face  into  the  binnacle.  The  fellow 
put  the  wheel  down  by  a  spoke  or  two  with  a  dogged  look  and  a 
sullen  twist  of  his  eye  upon  the  captain.  I  think  he  believed  the 
skipper  had  meant  to  strike  him.  A  sheath  knife  lay  upon  his 
hip,  and  the  muscles  of  his  anus,  which  were  bare  to  the  elbow, 
stood  up  like  ridges  of  iron  under  the  weather-browned  flesh, 
Broadwater  after  some  further  muttering  returned  to  us. 

'  You  were  speaking  of  sailors,  m'am,'  said  he ;  '  there's  but 
one  way  of  finding  out  the  sort  of  people  they  are.  You  must 
take  command  of  a  ship.  Of  course  there's  nothing  good  enough 
for  'em.  They  come  to  the  vessel  imbe-cile  with  drink  out  of 
the  alleys  in  which  they  live  when  ashore,  with  nothing  to  wear 
but  the  rags  they  stand  up  in,  and  without  having  tasted  food 
for  &  week  maybe ;  and  they're  no  sooner  aboard  than  up  turns 
their  noses  to  whatever's  offered  to  them,  and  the  growlin' 
begins.  What's  their  wittles  1  Beef,  pork,  tea,  bread,  mollasses, 
winegar — things  they'd  uever  have  knovved  the  names  of  if  they 


24  MAROONED 

hadn't  been  sailors  ;  for  as  landsmen  they  couldn't  have  earned 
as  much  as  would  have  brought  their  eves  to  the  sight  of  'em. 
They  like  the  money  they  take  up,  but  the  work  don't  suit  their 
delicate  constitutions.  Tell  'ee  what  it  is :  there's  been  a  great 
deal  too  much  said  about  the  British  sailor.  He's  been  led  into 
such  fancies  of  his  own  consequence  that  he's  now  ate  up  with 
wanity.  "  Ne'er  another  nation.  I'm  told,"  he  says,  says  he,  "  can 
produce  the  likes  of  me ! "  An  he  don't  know  how  right  he  is. 
Ne'er  another  nation  do  t  For  what's  the  name  of  the  country 
whose  sailors  are  within  hailing  distance  of  him  in  the  art  of 
loafing,  growling,  mutineering,  and  giving  trouble  all  round  t ' 

'  Your  crew  are  contented,  I  hope  f '  said  L 

'  Me  and  the  mate  '11  keep  'em  satisfied,  I  warrant  ye/  he 
answered. 

I  must  confess  I  did  not  like  this  man's  views  and  talk.  But 
then  I  reflected  that  sailors  are,  on  the  whole,  a  long-suffering 
people ;  that  in  every  crew  there  is  a  proportion  of  sensible  men 
who  keep  the  others  straight  by  their  resolution  to  out- weather 
the  captain,  even  if  he  should  prove  Old  Nick  himself,  sooner 
than  be  betrayed  by  injurious  usage  into  an  act  that  would 
procure  the  forfeiture  of  their  wages.  I  likewise  considered 
that  Broadwater  had  doubtless  been  master  for  some  years,  and 
that  he  had  experience  enough  to  distinguish  the  line  where 
surly  and  dissatisfied  obedience  ends,  and  mutiny — defiant,  reck- 
less, and  often  deadly — begins.  Meanwhile  I  held  my  tongue, 
for  I  was  in  no  humour  to  enter  into  an  argument  with  him 
upon  the  virtues  and  vices  of  the  British  sailor.  I  observed  that 
Miss  Grant  watched  him  furtively,  but  with  attention.  Yet  his 
face  was  but  little  better  than  a  mask.  It  was  impossible  to 
decipher  his  mind  by  looking  at  him.  He  had  no  other  faculty 
of  self-interpretation  than  his  speech,  Nature  had  restricted 
his  capacity  of  expression  to  that. 

Shortly  after  this  the  cabin-boy  arrived  to  announce  dinner. 
The  time  had  slipped  away  swiftly,  and  it  was  now  one  o'clock. 

'The  lad  must  mean  lunch/'  saia  L 

'  No  fear ! '  said  Broadwater ;  '  dinner,  sir,  dinner  I ' 

*  And  pray  what  is  the  next  meal  called  1 '  I  asked. 

*  Supper,  sir ;  sarved  at  half -past  five  ;  much  as  a  man  can  eat 
or  ought  to  eat  'long  with  tea.    Should  ye  feel  faint  towards 
bed-time,  there's  biscuit,  cheese,  an'  pickles.    No  chance  of  pas- 
sengers starving  aboard  me/' 

'  Oh,  we  shall  manage  very  well,  I  have  no  doubt,'  I  exclaimed 
soothingly. 

He  trudged  below,  leaving  Miss  Grant  and  me  to  follow. 

'A  true  sea-bear,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  she  whispered. 

'Yet  he  was  fairly  well  spoken  ashore,'  said  L  *But  to  keep 
one's  temper  is  the  great  secret  of  happiness.  And,  besides,  we 
need  see  as  little  of  him  as  we  choose. 

He  kept  us  waiting,  and  when  he  emerged  from  his  cabin  his 
face  shone  from  what  he  himself  would  have  called  a  *  wash* 


THE  VOYAGE  BEGINS  25 

down/  You  might  have  thought  he  had  soaped  his  hair  as  well 
as  his  face :  it  lay  as  a  skull-cap  on  his  head  and  glistened  in 
the  light,  and  I  took  notice  of  a  polished  spike  of  it  projecting 
beyond  either  ear.  as  though  the  old  fellow  had  rounded  off  his 
toilet  with  a  couple  of  notes  of  admiration.  It  is  not  many  years 
since  I  made  a  voyage  to  the  West  Indies  in  a  mail  steamer 
that  would  have  carried  me  on  to  Eio,  had  I  desired  to  visit 
that  port,  and  I  well  remember  that  this,  our  first  meal  aboard 
the  Iron  Crown,  recurred  to  me  as  vividly  as  though  it  had  been 
an  experience  of  yesterday,  when  I  sat  down  in  the  shining 
saloon  of  the  great  steam  palace  at  a  table,  white,  rich,  glitter- 
ing with  damask  and  glass  and  silver,  and  a  waiter  behind  my 
chair  to  attend  to  my  selections  from  a  bill  of  fare  which  no 
excellent  hotel  could  go  far  beyond.  The  cabin-boy  of  the  Iron 
Grown  was  a  tall,  knock-kneed,  dejected-looking  youth,  who  was 
making  his  first  voyage ;  he  was  already  oppressed  with  nausea, 
and  his  anxiety  and  fear  of  the  captain  were  horrible.  I  think 
I  see  him  now,  breathing  hard  as  he  put  a  tureen  of  hot  pea- 
soup  (at  which  he  was  too  ill  to  glance)  before  old  Broadwater, 
ana  then  staggering  back  with  his  eyes  half  out  of  his  head,  as 
though  persuaded  he  had  blundered  in  some  way,  and  that  the 
captain  would  instantly  rise  and  fall  upon  him.  Our  repast 
— and  I  will  ask  you  to  consider  the  time  of  year— consisted 
of  this  same  soup,  a  boiled  leg  of  pork,  a  dish  of  potatoes 
smoking  in  their  jackets,  and  a  pudding  of  the  shape  and 
appearance  of  a  small  bolster,  spotted  with  currants.  The 
captain  drank  rum-and-water,  and  ate  like  a  shipwrecked 
man  ;  and  that  he  might  not  think  us  fastidious,  and  so  ground 
and  justify  to  himself  a  still  more  objectionable  manner  than 
he'  had  as  yet  discovered,  Miss  Grant  and  I  partook  of  the 
soup  and  toyed  with  a  slice  of  the  pork,  but  declined  the 
pudding  on  th«  plea  that  the  excellent  breakfast  we  had  made 
had  left  us  without  appetite.  The  skylight  lay  open,  but  the 
atmosphere  was  nevertheless  oppressive,  and  I  was  not  a  little 
grateful  that  the  brig  should  be  sailing  along  on  a  level  keel ; 
for  though  I  was  never  sea-sick  in  my  life,  I  am  persuaded  that, 
had  the  vessel's  motion  been  lively,  the  hot  atmosphere  of  the 
cabin,  coupled  with  the  strong  fumes  of  the  repast,  would  have 
rendered  me  very  uneasy.  Broadwater  was  so  well  pleased 
with  his  dinner  that  he  suffered  the  cabin-boy  to  stagger  through 
the  task  of  waiting  without  giving  him  one  injurious  word  ;  but 
the  terrified  concern  of  the  lad  satisfied  me  that  though  the 
brig  had  sailed  from  the  Thames  but  a  day  or  two  before,  he  had 
in  that  brief  time  undergone  discipline  enough  to  make  him 
heartily  wish  himself  at  home  again  with  his  friends. 

As  I  handed  Miss  Grant  up  the  companion-steps,  she  ex- 
claimed, 'I  fear  you  will  have  to  thank  me  for  some  uncomfort- 
able experiences — and  yet  think  of  me  alone  in  this  vessel ! ' 

'  Never  trouble  yourself  about  me.  Miss  Grant*'  said  I ; '  I  shall 
begin  to  enjoy  myself  presently.  Here  am  I  face  to  face 


•Jf>  MAROONED 

an  aspect  of  life  quite  worth  examining,  believe  me.  One  might 
wish  indeed  that  there  were  other  passengers,  for  Broad  water  has 
the  look  of  a  man  in  whom  decorousness  is  only  to  be  contrived 
by  a  combination  of  fares.  But  he  shall  help  to  divert  us  yet ! ' 
I  returned  to  the  cabin  to  get  a  deck-chair  I  had  purchased, 
together  with  a  parcel  of  books,  and  made  her  comfortable.  But 
there  was  nothing  in  literature  to  detain  her  eye  or  mine  just 
then.  The  breeze  had  freshened  yet,it  blew  a  little  before  the 
beam,  and  the  brig  with  her  port  tacks  aboard  had  just  heel 
enough  to  suggest  speed  by  her  posture.  We  were  hauling  out 
from  the  land  that  trended  away  to  starboard  in  streaks  of  dim 
green  and  white  and  brown,  -with  here  and  there  a  brilliant  star- 
like  shining  upon  it  from  some  object  that  sent  back  the  sunlight. 
About  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  windward  of  us  was  a  large  India- 
man,  bound  as  we  were,  and  passing  us,  but  slowly.  The  rounded 
bosoms  of  her  canvas  were  towards  us  and  one  thought  of  the 
creamy  breasts  of  women  as  the  eye  noticed  the  garnishing,  on 
those  yearning  heights,  of  the  silver  fringe  of  the  reef-points. 
There  were  soldiers  aboard  her,  and  the  line  of  the  forecastle  and 
main-deck  was  spotted  with  bright  red  uniforms  ;  whilst,  from 
under  the  violet  twilight  of  the  awning  stretched  over  the  poop- 
deck,  you  caught  the  glance  of  twinkling  lace  and  metal  buttons, 
and  the  fluttering  coloured  drapery  of  ladies  standing  or  walk- 
ing. Her  large  cabin  windows  trembled  back  the  shivering 
lustre  that  rose  to  them  off  the  flashing  hurry  of  waters.  Her 
wake  followed  her  like  a  narrow  band  of  white  satin,  and  as  the 
dark  blue  curl  at  the  cut-water  arched  its  luminous  ridge  into 
snow,  the  leap  of  the  froth  to  the  afternoon  splendour  resembled 
a  scattering  of  gems  or  the  shattering  of  a  fragment  of  rainbow. 
That,  is  the  sort  of  ship  to  make  a  voyage  in,  I  thought  to  myself ; 
but  it  would  not  have  been  kind  to  say  BO.  Miss  Grant's  gaze 
was  full  of  delight  and  admiration.  She  let  me  know  that  she 
had  a  sailor's  eye  for  atmospheric  effects  when  she  bade  me 
observe  how  the  white  light  of  the  canvas  appeared  to  overflow 
the  boundaries  of  the  gleaming  spaces,  ana  dissolve  upon  the 
blue  beyond  like  the  sheen  from  the  sky-line  of  snow-clad  hills 
standing  fair  against  the  liquid  sapphire  of  the  winter  heavens. 
But  though  the  Indiaman  was  soon  ahead  of  us,  we  were  sailing 
too,  and  there  was  comfort  in  knowing  it.  Bound  as  were  the 
bows  of  the  Iron  Crown,  I  judged  that  she  had  the  trick  of  bl  w- 
ing  along  whenever  the  wind  found  her  a  chance,  and  that  her 
run  to  Rio  might  prove  nimbler  than  her  shape,  as  she  lav  in 
the  Pool,  had  promised  me.  Thus  we  slipped  onwards,  diminish- 
ing the  land  until  it  fell  into  blobs  of  film  and  hovering  streaks 
of  blue ;  and  by  sundown  we  might  have  been  in  the  heart 
of  one  ol  ocean's  deepest  solitudes,  but  for  three  or  four  orange- 
tinctured  sail,  like  dashes  of  light  in  the  far  distance,  and  but 
for  the  water  our  stein  wag  rending  being  of  a  hue  as  different 
from  the  deep,  dark,  beautiful  pure  blue  of  the  fathomless 
surge  £8  were  old  Broadwator's  eyes  from  those  of  Mi&>  Au  relit* 


A  CHANNEL*  INCIDENT  » 

CHAPTER  VI 

A  CHANNEL  INCIDENT 

HAD  I  embarked  on  this  voyage  despondently^  I  believe  I 
should  have  found  a  reason  for  the  gloom  on  my  mind  in  a  very 
extraordinary  incident  that  occurred  on  this  the  first  night  of 
our  departure  from  England. 

Supper  had  been  served  at  half -past  five.  Broad-water  thus 
spoke  of  this  meal  because  it  was,  as  it  still  is,  one  of  the  perver- 
sities of  the  forecastle  parlance,  so  to  entitle  the  hook-pot  of  tea, 
the  pieces  of  ship's  bread,  and  the  remains  of  the  contents  of  the 
noontide  kid  of  beef  or  pork,  which  form  the  last  of  the  mariner's 
three  repasts.  I  had  requested  the  captain  to  order  one  of  my 
fowls  to  be  killed  and  cooked  as  a  provision  against  the 
oppressively  substantial  fare  of  the  cabin  ;  and  though,  to  be 
sure,  the  bird  came  to  the  table  somewhat  tough  for  the  want  of 
keeping,  and  somewhat  prickly  with  unplucked  quills,  it  at  least 
provided  us  with  a  lighter  entertainment  than  we  should  have 
iound  in  the  cold  leg  of  pork,  in  the  dish  of  fried  slices  of 
pudding,  and  in  the  liver  and  bacon  which  the  cabin-boy  placed 
upon  the  table.  A  great  tea-pot  was  put  before  Broadwater, 
who  poured  put  cupf uls  of  a  liquor  black  as  ink ;  from  the 
depths  of  which,  on  stirring  it,  there  arose  quite  a  little  planta- 
tion of  twigs  and  leaves.  He  told  us  that  there  was  milk  enough 
on  board  to  last  until  to-morrow,  after  which  we  must  be 
satisfied  to  take  our  tea  '  neat,'  as  he  called  it. 

4  Few  vessels  of  the  size  of  this  brig  carry  cows,  I  suppose  t ' 
said  I. 

'  No,'  he  answered, '  nor  goats  neither.  It's  astonishing  that 
the  art  of  feeding  people  on  board  ship  should  have  rose  to  what 
it  is,  considering  how  few  vittles  there  are  which  ain't  of  a 
perishable  kind.  They'll  put  up  effigies  to  chaps  who  write  books, 
to  play-actors,  to  folks  like  politicians  who  get  on  for  themselves 
and  don't  do  nobody  else  any  good  ;  but  if  ever  mortial  man  in 
this  here  bloomin'  world  desarved  a  statue,  it  was  the  fellow  who 
first  hit  on  the  notion  of  steeping  beef  in  brine  to  keep  it  fit  and 
sweet  for  sailors'  use.  Think  of  being  able  to  get  when  afloat — 
mind  ye,  Miss,  I  says  afloat — such  a  dinner  as  we've  had  to-day  I 
The  mere  sight  of  such  food  at  sea — not  an  ounce  of  salt  in  the 
whole  biling  neither — is  enough  to  make  a  man  think  his  eyes 
must  have  gone  wrong  ! '  and  he  lifted  his  hands  and  gazed  up- 
wards with  the  air  of  a  person  overwhelmed  with  astonishment. 

At  this  early  stage  it  was  difficult  to  teU  whether  he  desired 
us  to  accept  him  as  a  humorist.  But  it  was  not  long  before  I 
discovered  that  lie  was  neither  a  wit  nor  a  wag,  and  that  he  was 
only  comical  when  he  had  not  the  least  intention  of  being  so. 

Whilst  we  were  at  supper  the  mate  came  below  and  took  his 
seat  quietly,  saluting  Miss  Grant  and  me  with  a  bow.— But  for 


28  MAROONED 

his  hair  I  must  certainly  have  thought  him  one  of  the  hand- 
somest men  I  had  ever  seen,  now  that  I  could  view  him  closely 
and  observe  the  delicacy  of  his  lineaments.  His  woolly  crop 
was,  however,  fatal  to  him.  It  was  a  feature  that  neutralized 
all  others,  even  when  his  head  was  covered ;  the  effect  of  the 
exposure  of  the  whole  growth  fell  little  short  of  a  shock.  I  tried 
to  engage  him  in  conversation  ;  but  he  was  very  reserved, 
answering  merely  in  monosyllables,  with  a  constant  reference  in 
his  manner  to  old  Broad  water,  whose  presence  I  supposed  kept 
him  quiet.  Once  or  twice  he  glanced  at  Miss  Grant,  but  so 
swiftly  it  was  scarcely  possible  that  he  should  be  conscious  he 
looked  at  her.  He  dispatched  his  meal  quickly,  rose,  bowed  to 
us  again,  and  went  to  his  berth  in  the  forward  part  of  the  cabin. 

'  Is  your  mate  a  smart  sailor  ? '  I  asked. 

'  There  never  was  a  smarter,'  answered  Broadwater.  *  See  him 
aloft.  He'll  spring  to  the  yard-arm  from  the  slings,  and  '11  be 
jockeying  of  it  when  the  liveliest  of  the  hands  isn't  up  with  the 
futtock  shrouds.' 

'  Have  you  known  him  long  t ' 

*  He  was  my  mate  last  voyage,'  he  replied,  lifting  the  lid  of  the 
locker  next  to  him  and  pulling  out  a  bottle  of  rum  ;  and  then 
calling  for  water,  he  mixed  himself  as  stout  a  nor'-wester  as  ever 
sailor  put  to  his  lips,  though  he  had  already  swallowed  three 
large  cups  of  tea. 

'He  has  not  the  air  of  a  seaman,'  said  Miss  Grant. 

'  So  little,'  I  exclaimed, '  that  I  am  surprised,  captain,  to  hear 
you  speak  of  him  as  a  taut  hand.' 

'Taut?" well,  that's  perhaps  the  word,  sir.  I  don't  know  that 
he's  not  almost  as  taut  as  me,  and  in  saying  that  I  pay  him  as 
handsome  a  compliment  as  one  man  could  give  to  another  ;  for 
let  me  tell  you,  Mr.  Musgrave,  that  you  might  coast  the  whole 
of  Great  Britain  and  not  meet  with  a  shipmaster  who  could  hold 
a  candle  to  me  in  the  art  of  managing  sailors.' 

'  Glad  to  hear  it,'  said  I,  rising,  not  very  well  pleased  by  the 
languishing  glance  he  cast  at  the  bottle,  as  though  debating 
whether  to  take  another  sup  or  return  the  liquor  to  the  locker. 

The  afternoon  had  been  hot  and  blinding  with  sunshine.  The 
evening  that  now  stole  down  upon  us  from  astern,  with  a  single 
jewel  glittering  upon  its  brow,  albeit  the  western  sky  was  still 
crimson,  with  lagoons  of  delicate  green  amid  the  amber  and  rose 
and  scarlet  of  the  light  high  clouds  there,  was  delicious  and 
tranquillizing,  full  of  dewy  softness  and  the  balm  of  the  shadows 
which  trail  in  the  wake  of  a  glaring  day.  The  moon  shone  with 
the  glory  of  the  preceding  night ;  she  merged  sea  and  sky  into 
liquid  gloom  in  the  north  and  west,  though  as  the  horizon  swept 
towards  the  effulgent  path  upon  the  water,  it  ran  with  a  clearer 
and  yet  clearer  line  to  the  silver  there,  till  under  the  planet  it 
hung  like  the  head  of  a  long  breaker  arching  into  foam.  Through 
the  pale  shadows  of  the  night  sailed  the  bng,  lightly  inclined  by 
.  radiance  was  so  illusive  that  the  sea  looked  to  go 


A  CHANNEL  INCIDENT  28 

bare  to  its  confines,  and  the  sense  of  solitude  you  got  when  you 
gazed  over  the  rail  could  not  have  been  more  complete  had  the 
Iron  Crown  been  floating  deep  in  the  heart  of  the  Pacific. 

Miss  Grant  and  I  paced  the  deck,  greatly  enjoying  the  coolness 
and  repose  of  the  night.  Our  talk  was  chiefly  about  her  early 
life,  her  father  and  mother,  Eio,  Fraser,  and  the  like.  It  seems 
that  on  her  mother's  side  she  came  of  a  race  of  grandees,  one  of 
whom  was  an  officer  under  Don  Pedro  de  Valdez  when  that 
Admiral  surrendered  to  Drake,  and  she  said  it  was  a  tradition 
in  the  family  that  he  was  the  only  man  aboard  the  Spaniard 
who  exhibited  any  kind  of  reluctance  to  being  made  a  prisoner 
by  Sir  Francis.  Her  mother  took  her  to  old  Spain,  as  she  called 
it,  when  she  was  a  child,  but  though  she  met  several  relatives, 
she  could  recollect  nothing  of  them  beyond  their  haughty 
manners  and  grandiose  airs.  Indeed,  I  gathered  that  her 
mother's  noble  connections  accepted  her  marriage  as  a  blow 
to  the  family  dignity.  '  And  yet  my  father,'  said  Miss  Grant, 
'  came  of  as  good  a  stock  as  any  in  Scotland.  Pray  what  Spanish 
woman  of  title  is  too  good  for  a  Scotch  gentleman  ot  high 
descent  ?  I  ought  to  love  my  mother's  native  country ;  but  she 
is  poor,  and  has  sunk  so  low  that  until  she  can  take  her  old  place 
in  Europe  again,  the  pretensions  of  her  ancient  nobility  must 
continue  to  be  almost  too  ridiculous  to  laugh  at.' 

Whilst  we  walked  and  chatted  the  time  insensibly  slipped 
away.  Once  Broadwater  rolled  over  to  us  puffing  a  pipe.  He 
offered  no  apology  to  Miss  Grant  for  smoking  in  her  presence, 
though  those  were  days  when  behaviour  of  this  sort  was  con- 
sidered a  barbarous  incivility  to  a  lady. 

'  There  is  grog  and  biscuit  to  be  had  below,'  he  exclaimed, '  if 
you  or  the  lady  nas  a  mind  for  a  sup  before  turning  in.' 

'Thank  you,  we  require  nothing  more.' 

*  The  boy  locks  up  at  half -past  nine,'  said  he,  '  but  the  cabin 
light's  left  burning  all  night.  There's  never  no  need  for  groping 
aboard  of  me.  What  I  says  to  my  owner  is,  treat  your  pas- 
sengers well  and  they  '11  stick  to  ye.  I'm  not  a  man  to  be  scared 
by  a  ha'porth  of  ile.  Tell  'ee,  Mr.  Musgrave,  how  to  read  a  man's 
character  :  watch  him  carve,  sir  !  There's  some  as  '11  help  ye  as 
though  when  what  they're  a  sarving  put  is  gone  there  ll  be 
nothing  more  left  to  eat  on  this  blooming  airth.  Others  '11  act 
as  though  they  understood  you  was  a  man.  That's  my  kind. 
Aboard  me  everything's  up  to  the  knocker.' 

He  uttered  a  loud  unmeaning  laugh  that  instantly  flavoured 
the  atmosphere  with  the  odour  of  rum. 

'  We  must  consider  ourselves  very  fortunate  to  fall  into  such 
good  hands,'  said  L  A  man  of  purple  cheer,  to  use  the  language 
of  the  poet,  is  a  person  quite  to  my  liking.' 

His  eyes  were  so  small  that  it  was  impossible  to  judge 
whether  they  were  unsteady  or  not.  He  seemed  to  look  at  me 
as  if  he  suspected  a  sarcasm  in  my  words,  and  an  objectionable 
meaning  in  my  employment  of  the  word  'purple  ;  he  then 


SO  MAROONED 

with  a  flourish  of  the  stem  of  his  pipe  to  his  forehead 
over  to  the  binnacle,  and  after  blowing  some  clouds  of  smoke, 
•with  many  a  long  look  around  and  up  at  the  canvas,  knocked 
the  ashes  out  of  his  bowl,  gave  some  directions  to  the  boatswain, 
who,  acting  as  second  mate,  had  charge  of  the  deck,  and  went 
below. 

'  He  thinks  of  nothing  but  eating,'  said  Miss  Grant. 

*  I  hope  that  may  be  all,'  I  answered :  then  checking  some 
expression  of  dislike  and  mistrust  I  was  about  to  utter,  I 
changed  the  subject  by  calling  her  attention  to  the  lovely  effect 
of  the  moonlight  upon  the  sails  of  the  brig.  By  daylight  the 
vessel  was  the  sheerest  bit  of  commonplace  ;  but  now  that  the 
magic  pencils  of  the  moon  were  busy  with  her,  every  feature 
was  chastened,  the  homeliest  and  coarsest  detail  softened  by 
the  rich  clear  glow  into  a  fairy  delicacy^  of  airy  outline  and 
silvered  substance.  She  floated  clothed  with  beauty,  and  swam 
like  a  sweet  imagination  through  the  shining  air.  Her  decks 
gleamed  out  with  the  whiteness  of  the  peeled  almond ;  the 
black  line  of  every  seam  between  the  planks  lay  as  sharp  to 
the  sight  as  the  ebon  shadows  of  the  rigging  sliding  to  and  fro 
to  the  sleepy  stirring  of  the  vessel ;  there  was  weight  enough  in 
the  draught  of  air  to  hold  the  canvas  tremorless,  and  every 
hollow,  filled  with  the  white  radiance  that  had  something  of  a 
golden  tincture  in  its  gushing,  too,  was  like  the  image  of  a  sail 
carved  in  alabaster.  The  boatswain  stumped  the  weather-deck, 
and  his  shadow  at  his  feet  was  more  keenly  black  there  than 
his  figure  against  the  sky.  The  fellow  at  the  wheel  stood  stir- 
less,  but  for  an  occasional  movement  of  his  arms,  and  you 
would  have  thought  it  was  the  stare  that  ran  as  they  slipped 
up  and  down  past  him,  so  imperceptible  was  the  curtseying  of 
the  brig.  The  dew  along  the  rail  sparkled  crisplv,  as  though, 
since  moonrise,  some  secret  fingers  had  encrusted  the  line  of 
bulwarks  with  gems.  Forward  all  was  still ;  save  under  the 
yawn  of  the  forecourse  I  could  distinguish  the  figure  of  the 
look-out  man  stepping  athwart  the  forecastle,  sometimes  paus- 
ing to  lean  over  the  side  to  send  his  gaze  into  the  pale  distance 
ahead.  There  was  no  gleam  of  light  along  the  range  of  the 
starboard  seaboard  where  the  coast  was. 

'If  this  were  to  last,'  exclaimed  Miss  Grant,  'the  voyage 
would  be  delightful,  in  spite  of  the  disagreeable  obligation  of 
having  to  take  our  meals  with  the  captain.' 

|  Delightful,  yes  ;  but  too  long  I  fear,'  said  L  '  "We  want  wind, 
Miss  Grant ;  we  need  what  the  shipbrokers  term  dispatch. 
This  moonlight,  this  quiet  sea,  this  gentle  wind,  the  transform- 
ation of  this  old  bucket  into  a  fabric  of  marble  and  diamonds 
and  pearl  are  enchanting  indeed,  but  conditions  fit  only  for 
pleasure-making.  You  are  in  a  hurry,  and  I  shall  not  be  reluctant 
to  see  Rio  heave  into  view  either.  Give  me,  instead  of  the 
beauty  of  such  a  night  as  this,  the  thunder  of  half  a  gale  of 
wind  blowing  over  our  quarter,  a  high  green  frothing  sea  chasing 


A  CHANNEL  1NCLDEN1  SI 

as,  that  same  moon  up  yonder  whisking  like  a  silvor  round- 
•hot  from  the  edge  of  one  dark  cloud  to  another,  and  the  brig 
with  a  reef  in  her  foresail  and  the  main-topgallant-sail  set  over 
the  double-reefed  topsail  burling  through  an  acre  of  foam  of  her 
own  making,  with  the  white  seething  and  hissing  smother  boil- 
ing into  her  wake  that  stretches  to  the  very  line  of  the 
tumbling  horizon ! ' 

'An  excellent  description,  Mr.  Musgrave,  and  it  is  what  we 
want,  as  you  say.  You  have  not  forgotten  your  old  calling. 
You  talk  easily  enough  of  reefs  and  sails.' 

'When,'  said  I,  'a  man  has  dipped  his  hand  into  the  tar-pot 
the  stain  of  the  stuff  never  quits  him.  Once  a  sailor,  always 
A  sailor.' 

At  this  moment  five  bells  were  struck  by  some  one  on  the 
main-deck. 

4  What  time  is  that  ? '  she  inquired. 

'  Half -past  ten,'  I  answered. 

'  So  late ! '  she  exclaimed ;  'it  is  time  to  go  to  bed.  Good-night, 
Mr.  Musgrave.' 

'  Let  me  see  you  to  your  cabin,'  said  I,  and  clown  we  went. 

The  lamp  had  been  dimmed  spite  of  the  skipper's  indifference 
to  ha'porths  of  oil,  but  there  was  light  enough  to  see  by.  I 
was  glad  to  find  the  little  bracket  lamps  in  our  cabins  alight.  I 
suppose  it  was  a  part  of  the  boy's  duty  to  see  to  this,  but  there 
was  really  so  little  to  expect  in  the  way  of  attention  in  a  craft 
of  this  kind,  that  I  was  grateful  for  the  most  trifling  illustration 
of  our  being  looked  after.  I  stepped  into  my  cabin  for  a 
cheroot,  not  choosing  to  turn  my  back  on  so  fair  a  night  yet 
awhile.  Slightly  as  the  brig  swayed,  the  bulkheads  and  strong 
fastenings  creaked  as  though  a  score  of  rats  were  worrying  one 
another,  and  I  guessed,  unless  I  should  turn  in  thoroughly 
sleepy,  these  bothersome  noises  promised  to  keep  me  awake  all 
night.  Cigar  in  mouth  I  walked  the  deck  for  some  time,  finding 
a  constant  pleasure  in  the  moonlit  scene,  and  greatly  enjoying 
the  delicious  hush  that  rested  upon  the  vessel  and  the  ocean. 
After  all,  thought  I.  this  is  a  voyage  to  do  me  a  great  deal  of 
good.  It  is  a  complete  change ;  there  is  no  cold  weather  to  be 
dreaded,  no  Cape  Horn,  no  Southern  Ocean  in  June.  There 
should  be  some  fun  to  be  got  out  of  old  Broadwater,  though  I  do 
not  like  him.  And  then  I  fell  to  thinking  of  Miss  Aurelia. 
There  had  been  so  much  moonlight  mixed  up  in  our  oceanic 
intercourse  so  far,  that  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  I  should  never  be 
able  to  cast  my  eyes  upon  the  planet  without  thinking  of  her. 
Well,  no  woman  could  desire  a  lovelier  fancy  and  habit  of  associ- 
ation in  a  man's  mind.  My  humour  took  a  poetic  turn  ;  Byron's 
line, '  She  walks  in  beauty  like  the  night,'  came  into  my  head, 
along  with  Shelley's  fine  thought — '  Moonlight  and  music  ana 
feeling  are  one.'  Here  is  plenty  of  moonlight,  thought  I,  but 
even  if  I  should  call  Miss  Aurelia  the  music,  where  is  the  feeling  1 
But  what  wonderful  eyes  she  has  1  I  mused ;  what  spirit,  power, 


82  MAROONED 

life,  intelligence  1  She  talks  very  finely  too,  by  George  I  Fraser 
is  her  dear  boy,  and  deserves  to  be  so,  I  don  t  doubt ;  but  the 
shape  of  his  head  must  have  vastly  changed  since  he  was  my 
shipmate  at  sea,  if  he  is  able  to  understand  one  half  of  the 
fancies  which  take  her. 

Presently,  feeling  somewhat  lonesome,  I  crossed  the  deck  to 
where  the  boatswain  was  quietly  pacing. 

'A  fine  night,'  said  L 

*  It  is,  sir; — lovely  indeed,'  he  replied,  coming  to  a  stand  and 
touching  his  cap  very  civilly. 

'You  are  the  second  mate,  I  believe?' 

*  Second  mate  and  bo'sun,  sir.' 

'  Pray  do  not  stand,  I  will  walk  with  you.' 

We  started  to  pace  the  length  of  the  quarter-deck  together. 
I  particularly  observed  in  him  a  very  respectful  quiet  manner, 
the  sort  of  sailor-like  civility  one  wanted  to  hear  of  in  such  a 
ship  as  the  Iron  Crown.  The  moonshine  gushed  so  clearly  that 
my  companion's  face  could  not  have  been  more  visible  had  I 
viewed  it  by  daylight.  He  was  a  hearty-looking  man  of  about 
five-and-fprty?  clean  shaven  saving  a  streak  of  iron-gray  whisker ; 
a  real  splicer  in  aspect  down  to  such  minutiae  as  the  hang  of  his 
arms  and  the  curl  of  his  fingers  as  he  walked. 

*  Is  this  your  first  voyage  with  Captain  Broad  water,  Mr. ? ' 

*  Gordon's  my  name,  sir — Zana  Gordon.    Yes,  this  is  my  first 
voyage  with  Captain  Broadwater.' 

I  suppose  he  is  reckoned  a  pretty  smart  seaman  1 ' 

*  I  don  t  know  I'm  sure,  sir.' 

'The  crew  at  least  strike  me  as  a  lively  lot.  They  tumble 
about  very  briskly,  a  good  sign  in  men  newly  shipped.  But  of 
course  most  of  them  will  run  when  the  brig  arrives  at  Rio. 
Jack  has  his  peculiarities  as  have  other  folks.' 

'  He  has  a  right  to  be  peculiar,  sir.  His  life's  a  good  deal  out 
of  the  common ;  little  understood  too  save  by  them  who  have  to 
eat  and  drink  and  jump  aloft  with  him.  And  it  isn't  enough 
that  he's  expected  to  work  for  twenty-four  hours  in  the  day, 
and  that  hes  got  to  eat  victuals  which  no  man  ashore  who 
values  his  dog  would  give  it,  unless  it  went  mad  and  had  to  be 
choked  ;  and  that  his  labour's  of  a  sort  ne'er  a  landsman  would 
undertake,  no,  not  if  instead  of  signing  for  three  pounds  a 
month  he  agreed  for  a  hundred.  That  isn't  enough,  I  say.  It's 
what  lies  behind,  sometimes  deep,  and  nearly  always  out  of  sight, 
that's  the  worst  part  of  all  that  s  bad  in  the  seafaring  calling.' 

'You  mean  bullying,  brutal  treatment,  injurious  language?' 
He  was  silent.  '  I  should  understand  you,'  said  I.  '  In  coming 
aboard  this  morning  I  found  a  bigger  hint  than  would  have 
sufficed  me  in  the  faces  of  the  boat's  crew.  I  was  a  sailor 
myself  for  three  years,  and  one  doesn't  want  to  serve  longer 
than  that  to  make  plain  words  of  the  looks  of  seamen.' 

He  still  held  his  peace,  but  he  had  said  enough  to  let  me  know 
bis  silence  was  mere  wariness.  .  When  we  got  on  to  other  topics 


33 

he  was  as  talkative  as  I  could  desire.  I  found  he  had  been  able 
seaman  aboard  the  Indiaman  I  had  first  gone  to  sea  in,  though 
he  had  left  her  before  I  joined.  She  had  been  commanded  in 
his  time  by  the  same  man  who  had  her  when  I  was  a  midship- 
man ;  so  here  was  a  topic  that  was  enough  to  at  once  establish 
a  sort  of  bond  between  us. 

Whilst  we  were  pacing  the  deck  the  man  on  the  look-out 
forward  hailed  rny  companion — as  he  seemed  to  think.  Neither 
of  us  caught  what  he  said,  and  Gordon  hallooed  back.  The  man 
sang  out  again,  but  without  making  himself  heard ;  on  which  the 
boatswain  went  forward  to  see  what  was  wanted.  He  left  me 
Standing  near  the  wheel.  There  yet  remained  half  of  my  cheroot 
to  smoke  out.  Six  bells — eleven  o'clock — had  been  struck  some 
ten  minutes  before;  but  the  loveliness  of  the  night  still  detained 
me,  and  I  was  in  no  mood  yet  to  exchange  the  warm  sweetness 
of  the  ocean  night-breeze  for  the  atmosphere  of  my  cabin.  On 
a  sudden  the  man  who  was  steering  started  violently,  let  go  the 
wheel,  and  ran  to  the  vessel's  side,  where  he  hung  in  a  strained 
listening  posture,  with  one  hand  to  his  ear.  I  hastily  crossed 
the  deck,  wondering  what  on  earth  he  could  have  heard  to  cause 
him  to  start  so  wildly,  and  above  all  to  desert  his  post  at  the 
helm  as  though  he  had  gone  out  of  his  mind.  The  moonshine 
streamed  full  upon  him,  and  the  complexion  of  that  light,  com- 
bined with  his  extreme  pallor,  made  the  face  he  slowly  turned 
upon  me  ghastlier  than  any  dead  man's  for  the  very  life  that 
worked  with  a  sort  of  grin  in  it. 

'Did  you  hear  him?  he  inquired  in  the  low  tremulous  voice 
of  a  man  newly  recovered  from  a  faint. 

'  Hear  whom  ? '  I  answered,  staring  my  hardest  into  the 
distance,  misty  with  the  radiance. 

'  Something  away  yonder  called  me  ! '  said  he,  still  speaking  in 
the  same  voice,  weak  with  terror  and  astonishment. 

'  You ! '  I  exclaimed  ;  '  called  you  !  But  there's  nothing  there, 
man — nothing  in  sight,  anyway.  What  should  there  be  then  for 
a  human  voice  to  sound  from  t ' 

'  Hark  !  There  again  ! '  he  cried,  with  another  violent  start  as 
though  he  had  been  electrified.  I  had  heard  nothing. 

'  What  is  your  name  ? '  I  asked. 

'Jesse  Cooper,  sir,'  he  responded,  trembling  pitifully. 

I  had  begun  to  think  that  the  fellow  was  ill,  or  that  he  had 
suddenly  gone  wrong  in  his  head,  when  he  lifted  his  hand  as  if 
to  motion  silence,  and  then  I  certainly  did  seem  to  hear  a  faint 
sound  coming  from  God  knows  where,  that  might  have  passed 
for  a  feeble  human  cry,  though  it  syllabled  nothing  that  was 
intelligible  to  my  ears.  No  doubt  it  was  no  more  than  the  sheer 
imagination  in  me  wrought  on  by  some  delicate  murmur  of  wind 
aloft,  or  by  the  stir  of  one  rope  lying  in  the  chafe  of  anothei,  or 
by  the  jerk  of  a  sheet  to  the  gentle  strain  of  the  sail,  or  the 
creak  of  parrel  or  truss.  But  for  the  moment  I  was  hardly  less 
startled  than  the  man  himself. 

D 


34  MAKOONED 

'Very  extraordinary ! '  I  said. 

'You  heard  it,  sir?'  he  cried,  looking  wildly  at  me. 

'I  certainly  heard  something  confoundedly  like  a  human 
voice  hailing,'  I  answered,  peering  with  all  my  eyes  at  the 
sea,  as  though  I  must  certainly  see  something  there  if  I  stared 
long  enough. 

'  0  my  God !  O  my  God ! '  he  groaned.  '  You  heard  it  too,  sir ! 
It's  no  fancy  then.  I'm  called,  and  must  go.  It  was  father's 
voice.  He  was  drowned  at  sea,  and  three  years  afterwards 
called  my  brother,  who  fell  from  aloft  and  was  killed  the  same 
night.  And  now  he's  called  me  ! ' 

I  saw  how  it  was,  and  felt  very  sorry  that  I  should  have  owned 
I  heard  the  souna,  for  I  was  now  persuaded  it  was  pure  fancy 
on  my  part,  that  is  to  say,  pure  fancy  in  taking  the  noise  I  had 
heard  to  be  a  human  voice  :  though  by  my  owning  I  had  caught 
the  note,  be  it  what  it  would,  I  was  like  to  drive  the  poor 
superstitious  creature  clean  out  of  his  mind. 

'  The  brig  will  be  aback  in  another  minute,'  said  I.  '  Catch 
hold  of  the  wheel,  man.  There's  nothing  in  all  this — nothing 
but  nerves.  Dead  men  can't  call  out — you  ought  to  know  that ! 
If  they  could  there'd  be  nothing  but  voices  hailing  the  world 
day  and  night.' 

He  grasped  the  wheel  without  answering  me,  and  brought  the 
brig  to  her  course.  Just  then  the  boatswain  came  aft. 

'Nothing  wrong  forward,  I  hope  ?'  said  I. 

'  No,  sir.  The  look-out  called  to  a  mate  for  a  chew  of  tobacco, 
and  thought,  when  I  answered,  that  I  was  the  man  he  had  sung 
out  to.' 

4  Glad  it's  no  worse,'  said  I.  '  We've  had  a  bit  of  a  scare  aft 
here, — all  happening  in  a  minute — too  odd  of  its  kind  to  require 
improving  by  anything  of  the  same  sort  forward,'  and  then  I 
told  him  what  had  happened. 

We  stood  in  the  shadow  cast  by  the  main-rigging  as  we  con- 
versed. He  cast  a  glance  in  the  direction  of  the  wheel,  and  said, 
in  a  voice  made  up  of  pity  and  contempt, 

'  There's  always  sailors  knocking  about  with  notions  of  that 
kind.  I've  seen  a  man  plump  down  upon  his  knees  and  pray  in 
a  loud  voice  all  because  he  caught  sight  of  acompreesantaburn- 
ing  at  the  yard-arm.  That  there  Cooper  struck  me,  on  first 
setting  eyes  on  him,  as  having  a  queerish  look  in  his  face.  If 
there  was  more  learning  in  forecastles  there'd  be  a  deal  less  of 
these  here  fanciful  gallivantins.  Fancy  a  chap  supposing  that  his 
father,  who  was  drownded  t'other  side  o'  Cape  Horn,  believing  he 
could  hail  him  after  all  these  years  out  o'  the  English  Channel ! ' 

'  Yet  wiser  men  than  this  same  Cooper,  Mr.  Gordon,  hold  and 
stoutly  cling  to  stranger  beliefs  than  the  midnight  hallooing  of 
drowned  men  ! '  said  I,  hammering  at  a  flint  for  a  light  for  my 
fragment  of  cigar.  '  If  any  mortal  being  has  a  right  to  believe 
in  ghosts,  it  should  be  the  sailor.  Look  aloft,  Mr.  Gordon ! ' — he 
turned  up  his  weather-beaten  face — '  Mark  how  spectrally  those 


A  CHANNEL  INCIDENT  38 

sails  show  out  to  the  moonlight.  What,  to  a  fanciful  eye,  should 
the  flitting  of  the  shadows  up  there  to  the  swaying  of  the 
masts  signify  but  the  pinions  of  spirits  hovering  over  those 
glimmering  heights  ?  and  what,  to  the  imaginative  ear,  should 
the  mutterings  of  the  breeze  in  the  shrouds  mean  but  the  dark 
and  secret  whispered  conversation  of  beings  as  little  like  you 
or  me,  Mr.  Gordon,  as  the  moon  is  like  the  sun  ?  Again,  look 
over  the  side — it  is  all  wide,  white  silence  :  mere  sea  and  moon- 
shine to  you  and  me,  but  to  the  lonely,  distempered  vision  the 
fittest  canvas  the  wide  world  over  for  the  magic-lantern  of  the 
mind  to  cast  its  imaginations  on.' 

„  He  tilted  the  peak  of  his  cap  on  to  his  nose  as  he  scratched  the 
back  of  his  head,  and  said,  k  Well,  if  a  man's  weak  enough  to 
believe  in  ghosts  I  don't  doubt  he'd  get  more  ideas  about  them 
out  of  such  a  night  as  this  upon  the  ocean  than  maybe  he'd 
collect  out  of  the  most  crowded  of  graveyards  ashore.  But 
supposing  such  things  as  sperrits  to  be,  who's  going  to  make 
me  believe  they  ha'n  t  got  too  much  sense  to  choose  the  sea  to 
knock  about  in?  A  spectre's  right  enough  in  an  old  country 
house  and  the  likes  of  them  places  ashore ;  for  he's  not  only 
got  a  roof  over  his  head  and  a  hre  to  warm  himself  at  when  the 
weather  draws  up  cold,  but  the  pick  of  the  best  room  to  lay  in, 
and  a  larder  to  help  himself  from — if  so  be  a  sperrit  ever  gets 
hungry.  But  what  does  a  ghost  do  at  sea  1  If  he's  a  land  ghost 
he'll  stop  ashore ;  and  is  it  imaginable,  d'ye  think,  sir,  that  if  he's 
the  ghost  of  a  sailor  he'd  retarn,  without  being  forced,  to  the 
life  he  was  bound  to  hate  when  he  was  flesh  and  blood,  and 
keep  company,  of  his  own  accord,  with  such  people  as  skippers 
and  mates,  and  endure  again  the  cold  and  wet  that  'ud  send 
him  from  the  deck  or  from  aloft  streaming  like  a  soaked  rag 
to  his  thin  blanket  and  leaking  bunk  ? '  He  shook  his  head  in  a 
way  that  showed  him  fully  convinced  by  his  own  reasoning. 

'Isn't  that  a  sail  out  yonder?'  I  exclaimed,  at  that  instant 
catching  sight  of  some  tiny  object  gleaming  like  a  faint  dash  of 
light  on  the  sea-line,  and  doubting  for  a  moment  whether  it 
was  a  star  or  a  ship's  canvas  or  the  play  of  white  water. 

He  looked,  and  said,  '  Yes,  sir ;  a  yacht,  I  allow,  by  the  sheen 
of  her  sails.' 

It  was  as  though  a  paring  of  pearl  reflected  the  moonlight, 
so  exceedingly  dainty  and  delicate  was  the  lustre  of  the 
fabric  against  the  dark  obscure  of  the  horizon.  I  noticed, 
however,  whilst  I  kept  my  eye  fastened  upon  it,  that  it  moved 
with  a  velocity  quite  meteoric  in  its  way,  for  when  I  had  first 
descried  it,  it  showed  out  a  hand's-breadth  forward  of  the  fore- 
most main-shroud,  whilst  before  I  could  have  counted  ten  it 
had  slided  midway  to  the  fore-rigging. 

I  glanced  aft.  'Why,  Mr.  Gordon,'  I  said,  'the  wheel's 
deserted  ;  the  brig's  coming  round  ! ' 

He  sprang  to  the  helm,  and  ground  at  the  spokes  till  the  tiller 
chains  rattled  again,  meanwhile  looking  right  and  left. 

Da 


38  MAROONED 

'Where's  Cooper,  sir?'  he  cried;  'he  hasn't  gone  forward, 
ni  swear  he  never  passed  us ;  he  wouldn't  quit  the  helm  unless 
he  was  mad ! ' 

There  was  a  grating  abaft  the  wheel ;  I  sprang  on  to  it  and 
strained  my  sight  at  the  wake  astern.  The  moon  was  westering 
and  looking  over  our  foretopsail  yard-arm,  and  her  light  was 
very  clear  and  broad.  I  could  see  nothing.  The  wake  went 
away  slowly  in  small  black  holes  and  little  seething  clouds, 
with  here  and  there  a  faint  flash  of  green  light,  as  though  a 
strange  fish  with  a  green  eye  floated  up  to  the  surface  to  take 
a  view  of  us  now  and  again. 

'He  is  overboard — drownded  hisself!'  cried  the  boatswain. 
'  Man  overboard ! '  he  roared.  '  Lay  aft,  the  watch !  lively,  or  y e'll  be 
too  late  ! '  and  he  fell  to  grinding  at  the  wheel  again  to  steady  it. 

The  brig  came  round  slowly.  His  cry  was  electrical  in  its 
effect.  I  had  seen  nothing  stirring  save  the  man  on  the  look- 
put,  and  now  in  an  instant  the  planks  re-echoed  the  thump- 
ing and  slapping  of  the  booted  or  naked  feet  of  the  watch 
tumbling  aft  as  if  for  their  lives.  They  were  busy  with  the 
boat,  clearing  away  the  falls  and  casting  off  the  gripes,  when 
up  came  old  Broad  water. 

'  What's  the  matter  1  what's  the  matter  ? '  he  bawled. 

'  Man  overboard,  sir ! '  shouted  the  boatswain. 

'  Where  is  he  ?  where  is  he  ?  Anybody  see  him  ? '  roared  the 
skipper,  springing  with  his  oval  shanks  on  to  the  grating 
alongside  me. 

*  I  have  been  looking,  but  can  make  out  no  signs  of  him,'  I 
answered. 

*  How  long  has  he  been  overboard  ? '  he  shouted. 

'  Three  or  four  minutes,  I  expect,'  answered  the  boatswain. 

'How  did  he  git  there?'  ne  bellowed;  'was  he  knocked 
overboard  ? ' 

'  Good  God  ! '  I  cried,  wild  to  think  of  the  precious  time  the 
old  fool  was  losing  by  these  questions,  '  there's  a  man  overboard, 
captain,  and  he  must  drown  if  you  don't  instantly  seek  him,  if 
indeed  he's  still  afloat.' 

'  Keep  all  fast  with  the  boat,'  he  vociferated ; '  if  he's  only  been 
overboard  three  or  four  minutes  he  ought  to  be  visible  if  he's 
on  the  surface,  and  since  he  ain't  it's  a  proof  he's  under.' 

'It's  murder ! '  said  an  angry  voice  amongst  the  men  standing 
near  the  davits. 

Just  then  the  mate  sprang  through  the  companion. 

'Who  was  it  said  it's  murder?'  shouted  Broad  water,  half 
suffocated  with  passion.  '  Mr.  Bqthwell,  find  out  the  man !  find 
out  the  man !  I  must  know  who  it  is ! ' 

'  Captain  Broadwater,'  I  exclaimed,  '  the  poor  fellow  has  only 
been  overboard  a  few  minutes,  and  you  really ' 

'Mind  your  own  blasted  business,  sir,'  he  shouted  in  such  a 
raging  way  that  I  have  no  pen  to  portray  it  with.  '  Find  me  th« 
man  who  said  it's  murder,  Mr.  Both  well !  Find  me  that  man,  sir  I ' 


87 

t  Disgusted  by  the  old  fellow's  insolence  and  temper,  and 
sickened  by  his  indifference  to  human  life,  I  walked  a  little  way 
forward  clear  of  the  men2  and  stood  leaning  against  the  rail 
with  my  arms  folded,  waiting  for  what  was  next  to  happen. 
The  mate  thrust  in  lithe  as  steel  amongst  the  sailors,  flashing 
his  eyes  first  into  one's  then  into  another's  face,  whilst  with 
shrill  imperious  tones  which  came  back  in  echoes  from  the 
hollows  of  the  canvas  he  demanded  to  know  who  had  spoken 
the  words.  Broadwater,  dismounting  from  the  grating,  danced 
in  a  very  delirium  of  wrath  in  and  out  among  the  seamen,  looking 
for  all  the  world  in  the  transfiguring  light  of  the  moon  like  a 
gigantic  crab  masquerading  in  man's  attire,  whilst  he  whipped 
out  at  the  top  of  his  pipes  with  all  sorts  of  menaces,  threatening 
I  know  not  what  unless  the  man  who  had  said  it  was  murder 
was  named  or  confessed  himself.  The  excitement  grew,  the 
hubbub  increased.  Oaths  were  so  plentiful,  I  could  only  ear- 
nestly hope  that  if  Miss  Grant  were  not  asleep  she  was  out  of 
hearing.  I  feared  it  would  come  to  a  fight,  and  expected  every 
moment  to  witness  the  gleam  of  a  knife  flourished  in  the  air. 
The  men,  however,  would  not  tell  who  it  was  that  had  spoken 
the  words.  Some  blows  were  exchanged,  and  presently  the 
sailors  came  staggering  my  way,  driven  and  beaten  along  by 
Broadwater  and  his  mate. 

*  Forward  with  ye !  forward  with  ye ! '  roared  the  old  fellow, 
flourishing  his  arms  like  a  windmill,  whilst  the  mate  shoved  and 
pushed  as  a  drover  would  thrust  a  congregation  of  irresolute  or 
defiant  calves.  It  would  have  struck  a  landsman  as  incredible 
that  the  men  should  have  suffered  themselves  to  be  thus  driven. 
They  were  six  to  two,  yet  they  offered  no  resistance.  But  the 
habit  of  discipline  is  strong  in  the  sailor,  and  the  quarter-deck 
is  sacred  ground.  In  no  man  who  has  command  of  his  fellow- 
beings  is  there  vested  such  despotic  powers  as  in  the  master  of 
a  ship.  The  spirit  of  mutiny  will  skulk  long  ere  it  dare  show 
its  face.  There  is  no  doubt  the  men  would  have  gone  forward 
quietly  enough  ;  but  Broadwater's  and  his  mate's  blood  was  up, 
and  the  wild  and  wretched  business  did  not  end  until  the  men 
had  been  driven  forward  of  the  mainmast.  Blowing  and  gasp- 
ing, though  still  flourishing  his  hands,  Broadwater  came  to  a 
stand,  his  face  so  crimsoned  by  his  exertions  that  he  looked  like 
a  mulatto  in  the  moonlight. 

'  Now  see  here,'  he  said,  sputtering  out  the  words  in  wheezy 
accents,  for  he  was  too  exhausted  to  roar, '  ontil  the  name  of  the 
man  who  spoke  them  words  is  given  to  me,  you're  on  bread  and 
water !  Mind  that  1  One  of  you  it  was,  and  I  must  know  who ; 
and  if  bread  and  water  don't  sarve,  I'll  stop  'em  both,  I'll  stop 
'em  both  I  Hunger  '11  make  a  mad  beast  rational.  So  now  you 
know  what  ye've  got  to  expect.' 

With  this  he  walked  aft,  followed  by  his  mate.  By  this  time 
I  had  had  enough  of  the  deck,  and  was  sick,  grieved,  and  deeply 
worried  too.  Broad  water's  insulting  expression  stuck  in  my 


»  MAROONED 

gorge,  and  I  made  up  my  mind  to  have  a  short  conversation 
with  him  next  morning  on  the  subject.  It  was  depressing 
beyond  words,  too,  to  think  that  the  unhappy  man,  who  beyond 
question  had  dropped  silently  overboard  whilst  the  boatswain 
and  I  conversed  forwards,  may  have  perished  for  the  want  of  a 
boat  nimbly  sent  to  seek  him.  One  of  the  crew  had  called  it 
murder,  and  that  would  be  the  universal  feeling  of  the  forecastle 
I  was  sure.  Broadwater  was  marching  to  and  fro  near  the 
wheel,  with  a  lurch  in  his  gait  that  satisfied  me  he  must  have 
gone  to  bed  pretty  well  primed.  He  was  talking  vehemently 
to  the  boatswain,  who  still  held  the  wheel.  The  mate  overhung 
the  rail,  gazing  astern.  I  went  below  unnoticed  by  them,  and 
had  opened  the  door  of  my  cabin  when  I  heard  my  name  called. 
I  turned  and  saw  Miss  Grant  standing  in  her  doorway  robed  in 
a  pink  dressing-gown.  Her  dark  eyes  flashed  back  the  light  of 
the  lamp  in  my  berth,  and  with  them  and  her  pale  face  and 
coronal  of  fair  hair  and  commanding  posture  she  would,  attired 
as  she  was,  have  nobly  filled  the  canvas  of  a  painter  as  the  Muse 
of  Tragedy. 

'  What  was  the  cause  of  that  great  commotion  on  deck,  just 
now?'  she  inquired,  without  the  least  exhibition  of  alarm  or 
nervousness. 

'I  had  hoped  that  you  would  have  been  peacefully  sleeping, 
Miss  Grant.  A  fellow  who  was  at  the  wheel  fell  crazy,  and 
quietly  slipped  himself  overboard.  He  was  missed,  and  the 
alarm  given.  Hence  the  hurried  tread  overhead  which  dis- 
turbed you.' 

'  Was  he  saved  !  ' 

'No.  Broadwater  arrived  rather  the  worse  for  liquor,  lost 
his  temper,  and  prohibited  the  men  from  lowering  the  boat.  It 
is  all  very  sad,  and  I  would  rather  it  had  happened  on  the  last 
instead  of  the  first  night  of  our  voyage.  But  I  have  told  you  the 
worst.  And  do  you  know,  Miss  Grant,  that  it  is  past  midnight  ?  ' 

She  saw  that  I  did  not  want  to  prolong  my  talk  just  then. 
Indeed  I  was  secretly  much  excited,  much  perturbed,  vexed 
and  pained,  and  feared  that  my  speech  would  betray  my  anxiety 
and  worry  her.  She  listened  a  little,  and  exclaimed,  '  Every- 
thing seems  quiet  now  :  is  it  still  a  fine  night  ?  ' 

'As  lovely  as  when  you  left  it,'  I  answered. 

She  inclined  her  head  and  closed  her  door,  and  without 
further  ado  I  tumbled  into  my  bunk,  though  not  to  sleep  for  a 
long  while. 


CHAPTER 

BOTHWELL,  CHIEF  MATS 

I  WAS  awakened  early  by  the  scrubbing-brushes  of  the  men 
overhead  washing  down  the  decks.  The  movement  of  the  little 
ship  was  tolerably  lively,  insomuch  that  on  quitting  my  bunk  I 


BOTHWELL,  CHIEF  MATE  89 

had  some  difficulty  for  a  few  minutes  in  keeping  my  legs,  nor 
•was  it  hard  to  tell,  by  the  dini  humming  noise  that  seemed  to 
tremble  through  the  fabric  like  the  vibration  in  a  harp-string 
after  it  has  been  twanged,  that  it  was  blowing  a  fresh  breeze  of 
Avind.  I  was  soon  dressed,  and  on  gaining  the  deck  found  the 
brig  storming  along  with  her  royals  furled  and  her  trysail-boom 
well  on  the  quarter.  A  high  sea  chased  us,  and  but  for  the 
wind  being  abaft  the  beam  we  must  have  found  no  little  spite 
in  the  weight  of  the  sudden  guns  and  brisk  squalls  which  dis- 
tended our  canvas  until  the  sheets  groaned  again  to  the  strain. 
The  heavens  were  covered  with  large  white  clouds,  which  rolled 
.along  very  stately  and  solemnly,  with  a  brownish  scud  speeding 
under  them  like  smoke,  but  there  were  everywhere  great  breaks 
of  clear  blue  sky  of  the  true  summer  English  Channel  tint,  into 
which  the  sun  would  float  and  flash  out  in  splendour,  casting 
down  clearly  lined  shafts  of  golden  light,  resembling  the  spokes 
of  a  wheel,  which  seemed  to  revolve  to  the  movements  of  their 
bodies  of  vapour.  The  sea  was  as  grand  as  one  could  wish  it 
with  flying  shadow  and  leaping  dazzle — blue  ridges  with  a  mile 
long  head  of  foam,  bits  of  rainbow  in  the  showering  of  spray, 
weltering  spaces  of  violet  gloom  cast  _  by  the  clouds  and  the 
swift  glory  that  chased  them.  The  brig  was  buzzing  through 
it  as  if,  to  use  the  sailor's  phrase,  she  had  the  scent  at  last.  She 
rose  to  the  head  of  a  sea  in  a  boiling  smother,  then  sank  all 
very  solemnly  with  a  leeward  heel  that  seemed  to  bring  the  top- 
gallant rail  within  arm's-reach  of  the  hissing  yeast  that  went 
wildly  swirling  past,  and  out  of  which  the  rush  of  wind  from 
under  the  foot  of  the  mainsail  would  tear  up  bucketfuls  of 
blobs  and  flakes,  and  send  them  scattering  with  a  scream 
through  the  air  with  something  of  the  pearly  glint  of  the  flying- 
fish  in  their  flight. 

My  friend  Mr.  Zana  Gordon  had  once  again  charge  of  the  deck. 
Bucket  in  hand,  with  trousers  turned  above  the  knee,  he  swirled 
the  sparkling  green  water  that  was  handed  to  him  along  the 
deck,  whilst  the  men  scrubbed  with  their  brushes.  Recollecting 
that  these  were  the  fellows  who  were  to  be  disciplined  by  a  diet 
of  bread  and  water  into  telling  the  captain  which  of  them  it  was 
who  had  used  the  words  that  had  enraged  him,  I  ran  my  eye 
from  one  to  another  of  them  with  a  little  attention,  but  observed 
nothing  particular,  unless  it  were  a  sort  of  sullenness  in  their 
deliberate  manner  of  handling  their  scrubbing-brushes,  which 
after  all  might  have  been  a  mere  imagination  on  my  part  too. 

It  was  a  lively  enough  scene  in  its  way,  and  brought  back  old 
memories  to  me.  The  smoke  of  the  newly-lighted  galley-fire 
blew  swiftly  and  merrily  from  the  chimney  of  the  caboose  into 
the  sea,  ana  you  noticed  the  farm-yard  noise  about  of  the  crow- 
ing of  cocks  and  the  grunting  of  pigs.  There  was  but  one  vessel 
in  sight,  a  large  topsail  schooner  heading  to  cross  under  our 
stern  for  a  course  to  some  French  port.  The  sea  took  her  fair 
abeam,  and  she  rolled  so  heavily  that  she  looked  like  a  great  fan 


40  MAROONED 

violently  swayed  by  some  Titanic  hand  hidden  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  water.  Well,  it  was  just  the  sort  of  weather  I  had 
told  Miss  Grant  yesterday  that  we  needed.  A  short  spell  of  it 
would  drive  us  clear  of  soundings,  and  I  knew  it  would  make 
one  feel  as  though  the  voyage  was  to  have  an  end  when  one 
should  find  the  course  set  fair  by  the  binnacle  compass  for  South 
America. 

The  boatswain  saluted  me  with  a  flourish  of  a  tarry  thumb  to 
his  forehead,  but  he  was  too  full  of  business  to  talk.  After  I 
had  been  on  deck  for  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  by  which  time 
the  scrubbing  was  over,  and  the  seamen  were  smacking  the 
planks  with  a  swab  or  two,  Broadwater  came  up  through  the 
companion-hatch,  where  he  stood  awhile  holding  on,  and  blink- 
ing around  him  as  though  not  yet  wide  awake.  Then  going  to 
the  wheel  he  brought  his  eyes  in  a  squint  upon  the  compass,  and 
after  a  survey  of  the  fabric  aloft,  and  a  slow  gaze  round  the  sea, 
he  called  out  to  me,  '  Good-morning,  sir.  Tow  rope's  in  hand  at 
last,  I  allow.  No  hint  of  kedging  in  this  here  movement.' 

I  inclined  my  head  coldly  and  distantly  to  him,  and  then  sus- 
pecting that  any  kind  of  sub-acid  or  chilly  posture  would  be 
entirely  lost  upon  such  an  intelligence  as  his,  I  resolved  to  deal 
with  him  in  a  way  that  should  at  least  be  intelligible. 

*  I  wish  to  speak  a  word  with  you,  Captain  Broadwater,'  I 
called  out. 

He  looked  at  me  a  moment  as  though  he  feared  his  dignity 
and  importance  would  suffer  by  having  to  go  to  me,  and  then 
after  a  half  glance  at  the  fellow  at  the  wheel  with  a  slow  pulling 
down  of  his  nose  with  his  forefinger  and  thumb,  a  trick  that 
seemed  to  help  him  to  arrive  at  a  conclusion,  he  came  to  where 
I  stood,  but  very  leisurely,  appearing  the  while  to  think  of 
nothing  but  the  appearance  of  the  deck,  and  the  movements  of 
the  men  swabbing. 

*  Well,  Mr.  Musgrave.'  he  exclaimed,  '  what  is  it,  sir  1    Slept 
pretty  comfortable,  I  hope?     Nothing  the  lady  can  find  to 
complain  about,  I  trust  ? ' 

*  Sir,'  said  I,  '  you  were  ^extremely  rude  and  offensive  to  me 
last  night.    You  are  captain  of  this  ship,  and  I  am  a  passenger 
who  has  paid  for  certain  rights— civility  from  you  amongst  the 
rest — which  I  intend  to  claim  ;  and  if  you  do  not  concede  me 
every  tittle  of  what  I  have  parted  with  my  money  to  obtain, 
I  will  make  it  so  hot  for  you  on  my  return  to  England  that  you 
shall  wish  yourself  hanged  ere  you  ever  set  eyes  on  me.    And 
now,  sir,'  I  continued,  with  the  sternest  face  I  could  contrive  to 
put  on,  though  my  gravity  was  not  a  little  staggered  by  the 
ludicrous  expression  of  bewilderment  that  overspread  his  singu- 
lar countenance,  '  I  insist  upon  your  apologizing  to  me  at  once, 
Captain  Guy  Broadwater,  for  the  insolent  manner  in  which  you 
addressed  me  last  night.' 

He  cast  his  little  eyes  from  the  deck  to  the  sky  and  back  again, 
frowned,  scratched  his  head,  and  by  other  signs  seemed  to  wish 


BOTHWELL,   CHIEF  MATE  41 

me  to  suppose  that  he  was  in  an  agony  of  thought.  Then,  with 
an  inimitable  air  of  being  all  abroad,  he  pointed  with  his  fore- 
finger to  his  waistcoat,  and  said, '  Me  1  me  insult  you  !  You're 
a-dreaming,  Mr.  Musgrave.' 

'No  dream  at  all,  sir,'  said  I ;  'you  were  confoundedly  insolent 
to  me,  and  ruder  even  in  your  manner  than  in  your  speech,  and 
I  demand  an  apology.' 

Again  he  looked  up  at  the  sky  and  down  at  the  deck,  as  though 
the  effort  to  recollect  what  had  passed  caused  him  acute  suffering. 

'  What  did  I  say  ? '  he  suddenly  asked. 

I  told  him. 

'Well.  Mr.  Musgrave,'  said  he,  'you're  a  gentleman,  and  I 
"should  be  sorry  for  to  swear  that  I  never  spoke  them  words, 
seeing  that  you  tell  me  I  did.  But  I  can  assure  you,  sir,  oa 
my  honour  as  master  of  this  here  Iron  Grown,  that  I  have  no 
recollection  of  using  the  term  you  mention.  If  I  did,  why  then 
I  'pologize,  and  no  man  can  do  more.' 

On  hearing  this  I  bowed  coldly  and  walked  aft,  congratulating 
myself  upon  my  resolution,  for  1  believed  I  had  made  him  under- 
stand he  would  have  to  be  very  cautious  henceforth  in  his 
dealings  with  me,  and  I  had  also  got  to  see  that  the  man,  like 
all  other  bullies,  was  very  white-livered  at  bottom.  There  was, 
indeed,  danger  that  a  person  of  this  nature  would  extend  some- 
thing of  the  treatment  he  exhibited  to  his  crew  to  Miss  Grant 
and  me ;  and  unless  I  asserted  myself  promptly  it  might  end, 
through  a  natural  aversion  on  my  part  from  any  kind  of  worry 
or  annoyance,  to  my  insensibly  submitting  to  his  rough  usage, 
which  01  course  he  would  accentuate  in  proportion  as  I  yielded, 
until  my  life  on  board  might  become  as  uneasy  as  if  I  had  been 
one  of  the  crew.  This  is  a  feature  of  a  voyage  absolutely 
impossible  in  these  days,  but  in  my  time  it  was  a  condition  (in 
small  passenger  vessels,  of  course)  as  familiar  as  the  coarseness 
of  the  food  and  the  gloom  and  discomforts  of  the  cabin. 

I  kept  my  back  on  the  quarter-deck  for  a  little,  whilst  I 
stood  watching  the  sparkling  race  of  froth  hurling  from  under 
the  shadow  of  our  counter  to  the  creamy  summit  of  the  green 
surge  chasing  us,  during  which  I  could  hear  the  old  fellow 
calling  to  the  seamen  in  such  a  tone  as  few  men  would 
think  fit  to  adopt^  towards  a  dog.  If  it  was  convenient  to 
him  to  forget  his  insulting  manner  to  me,  it  was  plain  that 
whatever  besides  he  chose  to  remember  was  very  present  to 
his  mind.  For  how  long  a  period  the  men  who  formed  the 
starboard  watch  would  consent  to  the  discipline  of  bread  and 
water  it  was  hard  to  conjecture ;  though,  indeed,  the  sailor  of 
that  period  could  scarcely  witness  a  very  severe  hardship  in  the 
deprivation  of  lumps  of  meat  out  of  which,  whether  raw  or 
cooked,  the  mariner  beguiled  the  tedium  of  the  voyage  by 
manufacturing  snuff-boxes  for  his  grandfather,  work-boxes  for 
his  sweetheart,  and  tobacco-boxes  for  himself. 

Miss  Grant  did  not  leave  her  cabin  till,  breakfast  .was  upon 


42  MAROONED 

the  table.  Broadwater,  who  was  seated  when  she  arrived,  got 
up  and  distorted  his  figure  with  a  bow,  whilst  he  asked  her,  \\  .th 
much  such  a  pleasant  face  as  he  wore  when  I  first  made  his 
acquaintance,  what  sort  of  a  night  she  had  passed,  and  if  the 
brig's  tumblefication  troubled  her  much.  This  stroke  of  polite- 
ness was  meant  as  much  for  me  as  for  her.  After  the  exchange 
of  a  few  commonplaces  about  the  weather  and  so  forth,  Miss 
Grant  said  to  the  captain,  '  Were  they  not  able  to  save  the  poor 
fellow  who  fell  overboard  last  night  ? ' 

'  No,  mum,'  he  answered,  with  a  half  look  from  me  to  a  lump 
of  sausage  which  he  held  aloft  on  a  fork  ;  'the  long  and  short  of 
it's  this.  The  man  was  in  the  water  some  minutes  afore  the 
alarm  was  given.  The  surface  lay  clear  under  the  moon,  and 
had  he  been  showing  there  was  enough  of  us  looking  for  some 
one  to  see  him.  He  meant  to  drown  hisself,  and  he  did  it.' 

'  But  apart  from  the  chance,'  said  I,  '  of  rescuing  him  as  a 
mere  matter  of  humanity,  would  not  his  loss,  by  weakening  your 
working  strength,  make  you  anxious  to  be  sure  that  he  was  not 
to  be  recovered  1 ' 

'  There  was  no  signs  of  him,  sir,'  he  answered  doggedly.  '  I 
don't  want  to  lose  no  men  if  I  can  help  it ;  but  if  a  chap  chooses 
to  slip  overboard  so  quietly  that  no  one  hears  him  touch  the 
water,  what's  to  be  done  ? ' 

'  But  you  didn't  know  when  you  first  came  on  deck  that  he 
had  drowned  himself,'  said  I. 

'  No,'  he  answered,  '  but  didn't  I  act  as  if  I  did  ?  which  means 
that  I'm  one  of  those  men  who  don't  need  to  know  a  thing  to 
understand  it.' 

I  turned  to  Miss  Grant,  and  related  the  strange  story  of  the 
preceding  night,  whilst  Broadwater  worked  away  at  his  break- 
fast with  both  hands,  and  masticated  with  such  energy  as  to 
apparently  hold  him  deaf. 

'Strange,'  she  exclaimed,  ' that  you  should  have  thought  you 
heard  the  voice  that  called  him.  Of  course  it  was  fancy,  but  it 
is  dreadful  to  think  how  even  a  little  imagination  may  over- 
power the  reason.' 

'  There  was  everything  to  help  the  imagination,'  said  I :  'the 
silence  upon  the  vessel  and  upon  the  ocean — the  wild,  straining 
look  in  the  man's  eyes  with  the  sparkle  of  moonlight  in  them 
as  he  turned  them  upon  me,  full,  as  I  can  now  see,  with  the 
anguish  of  madness — and  then  the  misty  silvery  distance  to- 
wards which  he  bent  his  ear  with  his  hand  to  it.  I  believe  had 
he  told  me  there  was  a  phantom  out  there,  and  pointed  to  it,  I 
should  have  seen  somettiing.  if  not  the  apparition  he  himself 
beheld.' 

Presently,  after  a  prodigious  meal,  Broadwater  arose  and  left 
the  cabin. 

'  Why  did  not  he  attempt  to  save  the  man  f '  Miss  Grant  said. 

'  I  believe  the  fellow  when  he  first  came  on  deck  was  still 
muddled  with  the  fumes  of  the  liquor  he  had  swallowed,  and 


BOTHWELL,  CHIEF  MATE  43 

barely  understood  what  had  happened  or  knew  what  he  was 
about.'  And  then  I  told  her  how  he  had  insulted  me,  and  how  a 
li .  Je  while  before  I  had  obliged  him  to  apologize.  My  mere 
telling  her  this  thing  touched  the  spirit  in  her.  The  look  of  her 
tvs  she  listened  to  me  made  you  feel  that  here  was  a  woman  to 
fill  any  man  who  should  vex  her  with  the  feelings  of  a  dog.- 
Before  we  quitted  the  table,  the  mate  arrived  to  get  his  break- 
fast. He  bowed  to  us  quietly  as  before,  seated  himself  without 
speaking,  and  fell  to  his  meal  with  great  soberness  and  civility 
ot  demeanour.  It  seemed  hard  to  reconcile  his  subdued  bearing, 
which  seemed  by  its  air  to  be  habitual  to  him,  with  his  fierce  and 
,  passionate  treatment  of  the  men,  and  particularly  his  desperate 
and  raging  behaviour  of  the  previous  night.  ^Tow  that  the 
captain  was  away  I  hoped  to  be  able  to  draw  him  into  conversa- 
tion, and  began  by  saying  that  if  this  breeze  lasted  we  might  look 
for  a  run  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  knots  in  the  twenty-four  hours. 

'  Quite  that,  sir,'  he  answered. 

'  That  was  a  sorry  business  last  night,  Mr.  BothwelL  If  the 
men  forward  are  superstitious,  they  will  not  like  it.' 

'  They  won't  like  their  company  being  weakened  you  mean, 
sir  t '  lifting  his  gaze  from  his  plate  and  eyeing  me  steadily  for 
a  moment. 

I  thought  to  myself,  as  I  glanced  at  his  woolly  head,  his  hand- 
some features  and  dark  eyes,  which  when  they  tell  from  my  face 
rolled  in  a  hundred  nimble  glances,  fastening  upon  nothing, 
and  yet  seeing  everything  as  you  would  say,  'Lord,  what  a 
corsair  this  rogue  would  make  in  the  hands  of  a  Byron  or  a 
Michael  Scott ! ' 

'  No,'  said  I ; '  I  mean  they  won't  like  Captain  Death  boarding 
their  craft  almost  before  the  anchor  they  have  broken  out  has 
dried  at  the  cathead.' 

His  swift  glance  darted  from  me  to  Miss  Grant,  and  then  with 
a  smile  that  exhibited  a  set  of  fine  even  white  teeth,  the  whiter 
for  his  dark  moustache,  he  said,  in  an  almost  effeminate  way, 
'  Oh,  sir,  we  must  not  trouble  ourselves  about  what  the  sailors 
forward  think.' 

'  Why  not  1 '  asked  Miss  Grant  quickly.  '  Are  they  not  men 
like  you  and  Captain  Broad  water?  You  would  be  unable  to 
sail  this  ship  without  them.  A  master  on  land  dare  not  treat 
his  men-servants  as  captains  at  sea  treat  their  crews.' 

He  answered  softly,  'No,  madam,  because  no  doubt  men- 
servants  would  give  notice  and  seek  another  situation.' 

'Do  you  believe  it,  sir?'  she  exclaimed,  flushing  and  gazing 
at  him  iref ully ;  '  indeed  you  would  find  they  would  not  rest 
there '  She  checked  herselfj  and  added  laughingly,  and  look- 
ing at  me, '  I  have  not  a  very  high  opinion,  Mr.  Musgrave,  of  the 
spirit  and  courage  of  lackeys  and  footmen,  but  I  truly  believe 
that  if  they  were  treated  by  their  masters  as  sailors  are  by 
their  commanders  there  would  be  a  great  many  mysterious 
disappearances  happening  amongst  the  nobility  and  gentry.' 


44  MAKOONED 

'I  am  always  glad,  madam,'  said  the  mate,  showing  his  teeth 
again, '  to  hear  the  ladies  championing  poor  Jack.  He  has  very 
tew  friends,  very  few  friends.' 

He  shook  his  head  without  any  suggestion  of  sarcasm  about 
him,  and  the  gesture  seemed  to  me  to  make  his  eyes  shine  as  if 
they  had  been  formed  of  some  black  liquid  with  a  gleam  upon 
it  that  danced  to  the  rippling  of  their  movement. 

'  How  long  have  you  been  at  sea  1 '  I  asked  bluntly. 

'  Ten  years,  sir.' 

'  Humph ! '  I  exclaimed,  '  a  good  deal  of  hard  weather  and 
knocking  about  may  be  packed  into  ten  years.  Apparently 
you  are  of  Captain  Broadwater's  mind,  that  the  sailor  moves 
forward  the  better  for  being  kicked.' 

He  made  no  answer. 

'I  have  heard,'  said  I,  addressing  Miss  Grant,  'of  captains 
whose  hatred  of  the  sailors  serving  under  them  was  really  phe- 
nomenal I  remember  being  told  of  the  commander  of  a  ship 
that  he  could  never  bring  himself  to  offer  one  of  his  seamen 
anything  with  his  hand,  but  that  he  would  put  it  down  upon 
the  deck  and  kick  it  at  him.  By  the  way,'  I  continued,  turning 
upon  the  mate  again. '  what  '11  be  the  upshot  of  this  trouble  with 
the  starboard  watch  ?  The  men  are  not  likely  to  peach  upon  their 
messmate,  and  if  the  man  who  used  the  words  won't  confess 
himself,  what's  to  follow  ?  The  fellows  will  not  surely  put  up  for 
a  whole  voyage  with  nothing  to  eat  and  drink  but  ship  s  bread — 
bad  enough,  I  dare  say — and  a  draught  from  the  scuttle-butt  ? ' 

Before  he  could  reply,  Miss  Grant  said  quickly,  '  To  what  do 
you  refer,  Mr.  Musgrave  ? ' 

'Why,'  I  answered,  'last  night,  on  the  captain  refusing  to 
send  a  Doat  on  the  chance  of  picking  up  the  man  who  had  gone 
overboard,  one  of  the  group  of  fellows  who  were  at  the  davits 
exclaimed,  "/£'«  murder/"  and  the  whole  of  the  watch  are  not 
to  be  allowed  any  other  provisions  but  biscuit  until  the  man 
who  used  the  words  is  discovered.' 

'  He  is  discovered,'  said  the  mate  almost  blandly. 

'  Oh,  indeed  1 '  I  exclaimed  ;  '  how?  pray  1 ' 

'  He  came  to  me  about  twenty  minutes  ago,  and  said  that  as 
he  did  not  choose  his  messmates  should  suffer  for  what  he  had 
done,  he  would  own  he  was  the  man  who  cried  out,  "It's  murder!'" 

'  He  should  be  pardoned  for  his  honesty,'  exclaimed  Miss  Grant. 
'  I  hope  the  captain  will  let  the  matter  rest.  I  *till  ask  him  to 
forgive  the  poor  fellow.' 

The  mate  softly  wiped  his  moustache,  rose,  bowed,  and  went 
on  deck. 

'  One  should  say,'  said  I,  '  that  there  are  the  seeds  of  a  startling 
romance  in  that  chap ;  but  I  fear  that  it  is  nothing  but  the 
vilest  sea-going  commonplace  made  a  little  odd  by  good  looks 
and  Hottentot  wool' 

'I  agree  with  you,'  she  answered  :  '  lie  is  even  more  colourless 
than  hia  captain  ;  yet  prossaic  a*  they  both  are,  they  art)  equal 


THE  HALF-BLOOD'S  PUNISHMENT  45 

to  creating  a  very  great  deal  of  trouble  ;  and  do  you  know,  Mr. 
Musgrave,  she  said,  suddenly  and  even  vehemently,  'I  am  ex- 
tremely sorry  that  we  ever  took  berths  in  this  ship. 

'  Oh,  but  it  is  a  little  early  to  be  anxious/  said  I,  cheerfully. 
'  I  quite  know  what  is  in  your  mind  :  you  fear  that  the  behaviour 
of  Broadwater  and  his  mate  may  lead  to  the  crew  giving  trouble. 
Well,  the  same  misgiving  is  my  reason  for  speaking  out  so 
plainly  to  both  men.  If  they  are  made  to  understand  that  I  am 
watching  them  and  observing  their  conduct,  they  may  have  sense 
enough  to  restrain  themselves,  for  the  reason  that  I  should  be  at 
hand  as  a  witness  to  testify  to  their  inhumanity,  and  to  justify 
.any  act  of  insubordination  that  the  sailors  might  be  driven  to. 

bhe  was  silent  for  a  little,  and  then  said,  *  Whereabouts  is  the 
ship  now,  Mr.  Musgrave  ? ' 

'I  suppose  we  are  hardly  abreast  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  yet,'  I 
answered. 

She  reflected  again,  and  then  clasping  her  hands  and  bringing 
them  to  her  lips,  and  looking  at  me  with  a  sort  of  wistfulness, 
though  she  spoke  with  hesitation,  she  said,  '  I  almost — I  almost 
wish  that  the  captain  would  put  us  ashore.' 

This  was  a  desire  to  puzzle  me  considerably.  I  answered, 
1  Of  course,  Miss  Grant,  if  you  are  reluctant  to  proceed  I  will 
unhesitatingly  ask  the  captain  to  put  us  ashore ;  but  I  should 
not  like  him  to  refuse,  and  unhappily  there  is  no  doubt  that  he 
will  refuse,  because  of  course  he  would  conclude  that  we  should 
return  to  London  and  lodge  a  complaint  against  him,  and  so 
lose  him  his  berth.  Now,  if  he  should  decline  to  put  us  ashore 
my  position  would  be  an  awkward  one.  He  need  do  nothing 
but  keep  the  ship  heading  steadily  on  her  course,  and  we  are 
helpless. 

She  interrupted  me:  'And  the  passage  money  would  be  for- 
feited. No,  I  am  silly  to  wish  such  a  thing.  I  was  all  eagerness 
and  impatience  yesterday.  It  is  just  a  little  passing  misgiving.' 
I  was  about  to  speak.  '  No,'  she  exclaimed  with  energy, '  we 
are  here  and  will  remain  here.' 

'Be  it  so,'  said  I,  not  a  little  relieved,  for  I  foresaw  a  very 
great  deal  more  of  trouble  than  I  had  the  least  disposition  to 
undergo,  even  to  oblige  her,  had  she  insisted  on  my  asking  old 
Broadwater  to  haul  his  brig  in  to  the  land,  and  set  us  and  our 
baggage  once  more  on  terra  firma. 


CHAPTER 
THE  HALF-BLOOD'S  PUNISHMENT 

Miss  GRANT  went  to  her  cabin  and  I  on  deck,  where  I 
observed  Broadwater  and  the  mate  marching  the  length  of  the 
quarter-deck  and  busy  in  conversation.  There  was  a  middling 
high  sea  running,  whk-li,  hnrt  it  been  on  the  bow  instead  of  on  the 


46  MAROONED 

quarter,  would  have  rendered  the  motion  of  the  brig  extremely 
uncomfortable.  _  As  it  was,  it  swung  the  vessel  with  an  almost 
rhythmic  steadiness  as  it  underran  her.  It  was  first  a  long  up- 
ward heave  to  the  foaming  liquid  brow,  then  a  gradual  lean 
over  to  the  full  weight  of  the  wind  till  tne  lee-channels  roared 
in  the  smother  of  spume  over  the  side,  and  then  a  steady  slide 
down  into  the  speckled,  froth-laced  trough,  with  a  recovery  of 
the  hull  that  started  us  with  a  level  keel  for  the  next  buoyant 
climb.  Not  above  a  cannon-shot  to  windward  was  a  large  frigate, 
close-hauled  under  double-reefed  topsails  and  reefed  foresail. 
She  showed  no  colours,  but  to  a  nautical  eye  a  single  glance 
sufficed  to  prove  her  English.  She  was  plunging  heavily,  and 
would  lift  her  head  out  of  the  boiling  white  about  her  bows  until 
eight  or  ten  feet  of  the  keel  at  her  forefoot  showed  clear,  with  a 
dull  yellow  glancing  from  the  metal  sheathing  that  looked  like 
a  mirroring  of  pale  light  on  the  wet,  black,  gleaming  sides  of 
the  beautifully  moulded  hulL  As  she  rolled  she  gave  us  a  view 
of  a  portion  of  her  weather-deck,  with  a  hint  of  black  artillery 
in  certain  covered,  muzzled  shapes,  crouching  under  the  defences 
of  her  bulwarks  crowned  with  the  white  line  of  hammocks.  The 
movement  of  a  spot  of  red  here  and  there  marked  the  mechanical 
pacing  of  a  marine.  I  never  remember  a  nobler  sea-show  than 
was  offered  by  this  fine  frigate,  with  her  broad  white  line  broken 
by  the  closed  gun-ports,  the  superb  set  of  her  reefed  canvas,  the 
airy  grace  of  her  rigging  ruling  the  piebald  hurrying  sky  with 
dark  lines  of  shrouds,  thinning  as  they  soared,  till  they  rose 
delicate  as  the  fibres  of  a  spiders  web  to  the  glimmering  button 
of  the  truck  at  the  royal-mast-head,  whence  streamed  the  long 
pennon  straight  out  upon  the  wind,  like  a  streak  of  light  up 
there ;  whilst  over  the  weather-bow  there  was  the  sharp  and 
frequent  flash  of  a  green  sheet  of  water  that  broke  into  smoke  as 
it  flew,  or  a  sudden  lifting  above  the  bulwark -rail  of  a  column  of 
froth,  which  the  blow  of  the  bow  would  send  arching  back  till 
'twas  a  sheer  huddle  of  dazzling  yeast  under  the  radiant  figure- 
head, that,  with  some  hero's  wreath  in  its  hand,  plunged  to  the 
giddy  whiteness  only  to  soar  triumphant  a  moment  after. 

It  was  old  Broadwater's  duty  to  hoist  and  dip  the  ensign  to 
her.  This  is  a  civility  I  should  be  very  punctual  in  exacting 
if  I  were  commander  of  a  British  man-of-war.  The  skipper, 
however,  rolling  along  on  his  bow-legs  by  the  side  of  the  mate, 
did  not  look  as  if  he  even  knew  there  was  anything  in  sight. 
He  never  threw  so  much  as  a  glance  in  her  direction,  though  I 
could  see  some  men  at  work  on  the  fore-rigging  watching  her 
with  an  admiration  that  rendered  them,  for  the  time  being, 
insensible  to  the  presence  of  the  skipper  and  his  companion. 

There  was  one  of  a  dozen  coils  of  rope  hanging  over  a  belay- 
ing-pin  svyinging  to  the  heave  of  the  hull.  I  went  and  sat 
myself  in  it,  for  the  shelter  of  the  bulwark  there  from  the  gusty 
blasts  which  were  splitting  upon  the  rigging  full  of  whistlings 
and  cryings ;  and  there  swayed,  cradle-like,  by  the  hanging  fakes, 


THE  HALF-BLOOD'S  PUNISHMENT  «t 

I  leisurely  loaded  my  pipe,  and  fell  to  chipping,  in  the  old-world 
style  of  that  age,  at  a  flint  for  a  light.  Whilst  thus  occupied,  my 
eye  was  taken  by  the  figure  of  a  man  standing  at  the  foot  of 
the  foremast.  I  was  thinking  of  other  matters  at  the  moment, 
and  yet  I  can  recollect  wondering,  as  my  gaze  went  from  him 
after  a  brief  glance,  that  any  man  belonging  to  either  watch 
should  have  the  courage  to  stand  idle  on  deck  whilst  the  rest 
of  the  people  were  at  work,  when  both  the  captain  and  the  chief 
mate  were  pacing  within  eyeshot  of  him,  Presently  glancing 
his  way  again,  I  noticed  that  he  still  remained  in  the  same 
posture,  that  is  to  say,  with  his  back  against  the  mast  and  his 
lace  looking  a  little  forward  of  the  fore-rigging,  his  arms  folded 
upon  his  breast,  and  his  legs  together  with  the  feet  turned  out, 
like  a  soldier  in  a  sentry-box.  The  mast  was  painted  white,  and 
hence  it  was,  I  suppose,  that  I  did  not  immediately  observe  that 
the  man  was  bound  to  it  by  turn  upon  turn  of  rope,  starting  from 
his  arm-pits  and  terminating  a  little  below  his  knees.  I  know 
not  what  there  was  in  the  sight  to  startle  me,  but  I  believe  had 
a  seaman  fallen  from  aloft  at  my  feet,  and  there  lay  bleeding 
and  broken^  the  thing  would  not  have  shocked  me  more  than  the 
spectacle  01  yonder  sailor  secured  to  the  mast  as  though  he  were 
some  dangerous  maniac,  and  rendered  motionless  by  the  ligatures, 
saving  that  he  could  use  his  head  and  had  the  freedom  of  his 
arms. 

I  had  not  been  long  enough  on  board  to  be  able  to  distinguish 
the  crew,  but  this  man  I  seemed  to  remember.  To  make  sure, 
I  got  out  of  the  coil  of  rope  and  went  a  few  paces  forward,  and 
recognized  in  the  fellow  bound  to  the  mast  the  half-blood  who 
had  been  one  of  the  boat's  crew  that  rowed  us  aboard  from  Deal. 
If  his  face  had  struck  me  then,  you  will  suppose  that  it  im- 
pressed me  very  strongly  now.  Whether  owing  to  the  strangu- 
lation of  the  rope  about  him,  or  to  the  thoughts  in  him,  his 
complexion,  that  I  had  observed  to  be  of  a  clear  olive,  had 
changed  to  an  indescribably  ugly  colour,  which  I  can  only  speak 
of  as  an  ashen  green.  It  reminded  me  of  the  hue  I  once  saw  in 
the  face  of  a  dead  sailor  whose  cheeks  had  been  burnt  to  an 
almost  chocolate  tint  by  exposure  in  an  open  boat  in  the  Indian 
Ocean.  He  turned  his  dark  eyes  upon  me  with  a  savage  glare 
in  them  of  mutiny  malice,  hatred,  and  so  full  of  defiance  withal, 
that  but  for  the  evil  passions  his  countenance  expressed  you  might 
have  accepted  his  air  as  one  of  bitter  and  contemptuous  pride. 
It  was  intolerable  that  he  should  think  I  had  inspected  him  out 
of  mere  curiosity,  which  I  saw  from  his  manner  he  supposed ; 
and  since  he  would  be  too  wild  in  his  mind  to  interpret  the 
sympathy  which  I  am  sure  must  have  been  visible  in  me, — for, 
as  1  say,  the  sight  of  the  poor  bound  fellow  inexpressibly 
shocked  and  grieved  me, — I  turned  my  back  on  hirn  and  walked 
right  aft 

iJroadwater  left  the  mate  and  came  up  to  me. 

'That's  true  old  North  Country  style,  sir,' he  exclaimed,  'to  sit 


48  MAROONED 

in  the  bight  of  the  rigging  over  the  pin  under  the  lee  of  the 
bulwarks.  I've  been  hove  to  in  the  North  Sea,  and  sat  for 
hours  along  "with  the  rest  of  my  mates,  just  as  you've  been  a 
sitting,  waiting  for  what  was  to  happen  next.' 

'  It  is  hard  to  find  a  corner  to  smoke  in,'  said  I, '  on  board  a 
flush-decked  vessel  Where  there's  a  poop  or  a  round-house,  a 
man  may  discover  a  nook  clear  of  the  gale,  and  manage  to  keep 
the  cinders  in  his  bowl  till  the  fire's  all  gone.  Did  you  ever 
serve  aboard  a  Dutchman,  captain  ? ' 

*  No,  by  thunder ! '  he  answered ; '  what's  put  such  a  question 
as  that  into  your  head,  sir  ? ' 

'Why,'  I  said,  'I  notice  that  you  have  got  one  of  your 
hands  forward  there  seized  to  the  foremast.  The  Dutch  used  to 
serve  their  rogues  so, — sometimes,  however,  going  a  little  further 
than  you,  for  to  make  sure  of  the  fellow  they'd  pin  him  through 
the  hand  with  a  knife.' 

*  You're  keeping  a  bright  look-out  aboard  this  vessel,  sir,'  he 
exclaimed,  shooting  an  odd  look  at  me  out  of  his  little  eyes. 

*  My  good  fellow/  I  cried, '  I  should  be  blind  not  to  see  such  a 
sight  as  that.    What  has  he  done  ? — murdered  a  shipmate  1 ' 

'  Almost  wish  he  had,'  he  growled,  '  for  that  'ud  bring  about 
the  sort  of  treatment  he  wants.  He's  the  man  who  spoke  them 
words  last  night/ 

*  Ha ! '  I  exclaimed, '  and  for  that  you  are  dosing  him  with  a  spell 
of  fresh  air  that  he  may  go  to  his  dinner  with  a  good  appetite  ? ' 

He  left  me  under  pretence  of  looking  into  the  compass.  I 
will  not  say  that  he  was  afraid  of  me;  but  I  am  quite  sure  that 
if  it  had  not  been  for  my  talk  with  him  in  the  morning,  for  the 
manner  I  then  put  on,  and  which  I  still  wore,  he  would  have 
dealt  with  me  scarce  less  roughly  and  insolently  than  had  I 
been  one  of  his  seamen.  I  knocked  the  ashes  out  of  my  pipe, 
looking  away  towards  the  horizon,  below  which  and  out  01 
sight  £iy  the  line  of  the  English  coast,  and  felt  myself  urged 
by  a  very  strong  impulse  to  request  him  to  head  for  the  nearest 
port,  and  to  put  Miss  Grant  and  myself  ashore,  as  his  behaviour 
to  his  men,  though  we  were  not  yet  twenty-four  hours  from 
Deal,  had  rendered  us  extremely  uneasy:  insomuch  that  we 
'  were  resolved  not  to  pursue  the  voyage  in  nis  ship.  But  I  was 
again  checked  by  the  considerations  which  had  occurred  to  me 
•whilst  talking  on  the  subject  with  Miss  Grant.  He  might 
refuse  to  comply,  lose  all  control  over  himself  in  the  notion 
that  my  intention  was  to  ruin  him,  and  so  affront  me  that  I 
should  be  at  a  loss  how  to  act.  I  quite  perceived  that  unless  I 
could  be  sure  he  would  put  us  ashore,  1  should  be  acting  um- 
wisely  in  asking  him  to  do  so,  for,  if  he  persisted  in  sailing  away 
with  us,  then  whilst  we  remained  on  board  his  ship  we  should 
have  to  submit  to  any  sort  of  usage  he  chose  to  give  us.  I 
stamped  my  foot  on  the  deck  with  vexation  and  worry,  and 
could  have  cursed  the  hour  in  which  I  had  ever  set  eyes  on  the 
Iron  Crown. 


THE  HALF-BLOOD'S  PUNISHMENT  49 

I  had  hoped  when  Miss  Grant  came  on  deck  that  the  figure 
of  the  fellow  bound  to  the  mast  would  escape  her  attention,  and 
was  scheming  to  place  her  chair  close  against  the  wheel  on  the 
port  side  where  the  man  would  be  hidden  from  her ;  but  the 
instant  she  came  out  of  the  companion  and  looked  forward  she 
started  violently,  and  exclaimed, 

*  Why  have  they  bound  him  1  What  has  he  done  to  deserve 
such  a  punishment  as  that  ? ' 

'  He  is  the  man,'  I  answered,  '  who  cried  out  last  night,  "  It's 
murder ! "  when  the  captain  ordered  the  boat  to  be  kept  fast/ 

'And  they  have  tied  him  to  the  mast  merely  for  uttering 
those  words  ? ' 

'  Ay%  It's  a  bitter  burning  shame ;  the  indignity  of  this  sort 
of  punishment  is  the  worst  part  of  it.' 

fl  shall  ask  Captain  Broadwater  to  release  him,'  she  exclaimed, 
with^  the  indignation  in  her  surging  up  hot  to  her  face  and 
flashing  in  her  eyes.  '  I  shall  tell  him  that  the  sight  pains  and 
disgusts  me,  and  that  he  has  no  right  to  oblige  his  passengers  to 
witness  such  painful  and  miserable  spectacles.' 

Before  I  could  check  her  she  swept  up  to  old  Broadwater,  and 
towering  over  him  with  such  an  air  as  Siddons  would  have  worn 
in  her  tragedy  parts,  her  face  flushed,  her  eyes  on  fire,  her  head 
thrown  backwards,  she  levelled  her  white  forefinger  at  the  half- 
blood,  gazing  meanwhile  full  into  the  crimson  expanse  of  the 
skipper's  countenance,  and  exclaimed,  'What  has  that  man 
done  to  merit  the  sufferings  of  mind  and  body  he  must  be 
enduring  there  ? ' 

The  captain  was  a  broad  and  muscular  man,  but  short ;  and 
her  erect,  swelling,  impassioned  figure  made  him  look  like  a  boy 
by  her  side  as  he  stared  up- at  her.  Her  sudden  dramatic  accost 
took  him  completely  by  surprise.  His  countenance  wore  a 
ludicrous  expression  of  bewilderment.  He  half  turned  towards 
the  mate,  as  if  to  invoke  his  assistance,  and  then  exclaimed  in  a 
hoarse  stutter,  'Why,  mum,  that  there  man — he's  about  the 
impudentest  son  of  a  swab— the  long  and  short  o't  is,  he  as 
good  as  called  me  a  murderer  last  night.  Had  he  been  a  man-o'- 
war's  man  he'd  have  been  spread-eagled  to  the  toon  of  twelve 
dozens  for  saying  much  less  than  that.' 

I  joined  Miss  Grant  and  offered  her  my  arm  ;  for  though  no 
woman  ever  stepped  a  heaving  deck  more  easily  and  gracefully 
than  she,  yet  the  slope  now  was  sometimes  so  sharp  as  even  to 
make  Broadwater  lurch,  and  I  was  afraid  of  her  carrying  away, 
to  use  the  sea  term,  as  she  was  quite  forgetful  as  I  could  see,  m 
the  temper  and  mood  that  then  possessed  her,  of  the  tumbling 
of  the  platform  on  which  she  stood. 

'  The  words,'  she  exclaimed,  '  were  no  doubt  forced  from  the 
man  by  a  sudden  impulse.  Why  did  you  hear  them?  You 
would  not  punish  a  man  for  thinking.' 

'Yes  I  would,  if  I  knew  it,'  answered  Broadwater,  plucking  up 
a  bit,  and  yet  looking  uneasy  too. 


60  MAROONED 

'You  must  release  him,  sir '  slie  exclaimed  ;  *  it  is  a  sight  that 
makes  the  whole  ship  painful  and  distressing  to  me.' 

'You  cannot  refuse  the  lady's  request,  captain,'  said  L 

'But  I  can,  though,'  he  blustered  ;  'why,  smother  my  precious 
eyes  and  bile  every  blooming  limb  that  I  own  !  who's  capt'n  of 
this  here  craft  1  llelease  him  !  Certainly  not.  If  the  sight's 
too  painful  to  view,  the  lady  needn't  look.  An'  what's  there 
painful  about  it?  Why,  some  men  would  have  chucked  him 
into  the  forepeak,  smothered  him  up  down  there  in  the  black- 
ness, with  notlien  but  rats  to  keep  him  company,  'stead  of 
benevolently  sarving  him  as  I  do  by  suffering  him  to  stop  up  in 
the  fresh  air  for  his  shipmates  to  look  at  and  meditate  on.  Mr. 
Musgrave,'  he  suddenly  exclaimed,  in  a  bullying,  angry  voice, 
'  I'll  thank  you  to  tell  the  lady  that  I'm  the  commander  of  this 
here  vessel,  and  of  everything  that  consarns  her  and  her  navi- 
gation ;  and  I  shall  feel  obliged,  sir,  by  your  recollecting  of  that 
fact  yourself,  sir,  for  it  '11  spare  ye  the  trouble  of  cross-examin- 
ing my  chief  mate  here,  sir,  as  if  you  was  a  hadmirality  judge. 
No,  by  thunder !  my  name's  Broadwater — Guy  Broadwater — 
and  I  m  master  of  this  vessel,  and  them  there  men  forrad  are 
my  crew,  and  I'll  thank  you  and  the  lady  not  to  meddle  with 
my  consarns,  but  to  be  satisfied  so  long  as  I  perform  the  part 
expected  of  me5>  which  is,  to  carry  you  and  this  here  cargo  to 
Rio ! '  and  feigning  to  be  in  a  mighty  temper  he  bowled  away 
to  the  taffrail,  and  then  came  back  again  breathing  hard  and 
looking  swiftly  up  and  around  him,  with  a  fine  air  of  injury,  re- 
sentment, and  righteous  indignation,  not  ill-managed  on  his  part, 
though — like  the  ghost  of  a  squall — it  was  to  be  seen  through. 

There  was  no  affectation  in  Miss  Grant's  pity  and  disgust. 
She  lingered  a  little  while  on  deck,  and  then  went  below  to  her 
cabin,  declaring  that  she  could  not  bear  to  see  the  man  standing 
helpless  and  motionless,  as  if  he  were  dead,  suffering  grievously 
as  she  feared  from  his  posture,  which  rested  the  whole  weight  of 
him  upon  his  naked  feet,  and  from  the  many  coils  of  rope  which 
girt  him  so  tautly  and  plentifully  to  the  spar,  that  the  mere 
sight  of  them  made  one  draw  one's  breath  with  difficulty  out  of 
sheer  sympathy  with  their  suggestion  of  strangulation.  The  men 
at  work  in  the  rigging  and  about  the  decks  did  not  give  him  the 
least  heed  that  I  could  discover.  I  noticed  one  or  two  of  them 
glance  aft  when  Miss  Grant  spoke  to  the  captain  and  pointed 
forward,  but  in  a  sulky,  incurious  way,  as  though  what  was 
passing  had  no  interest  whatever  for  them.  This  behaviour 
might  have  been  due  to  the  presence  of  the  mate,  whose  rapid 

Slances  seemed  to  dart  all  over  the  brig  in  a  breath,  and  who,  as 
had  already  observed,  never  suffered  a  man  to  halt  for  an  instant 
in  any  job  ne  was  upon.  No  doubt  Ids  almost  preternatural 
quickness  in  detecting  the  least  hint  of  laziness  or  languor 
was  already  as  well  known  to  the  men  as  if  the  vessel  had  been, 
on  the  high  seas  a  couple  of  months.  Yet  Miss  Grant's  speaking 
to  the  captain  about  the  pinioned  half-blood  was  in  its  way  an. 


THE  IfALtf-BLOOD  IS  11ELEASED  61 

incident  as  far  removed  from  all  ordinary  shipboard  occurrences 
that  the  sullen  inattention  of  the  men  to  it  impressed  me  greatly. 
If  heavy  troubles  do  not  befall  this  ship  ere  long,  thought  I, 
it  will  not  be  because  the  spirit  of  mischief  is  even  already 
wanting  amongst  her  crew;  and  I  sent  a  gloomy  glance  sea- 
wards in  the  direction  where  old  England  lay,  feeling  that  I 
would  not  only  gladly  forfeit  the  passage  money  I  had  paid, 
but  ten  times  that  amount  over  again,  to  find  myself  and  Miss 
Grant  once  more  safe  and  snug  in  London, 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  HALF-BLOOD  IS  RELEASED 

HOWEVER,  since  we  were  to  be  locked  up  with  old  Broadwater 
for  a  spell  of  weeks  that  might  run  into  months,  our  policy  wag 
to  put  the  best  face  we  could  upon  our  condition.  But  Miss 
Grant  was  not  to  be  induced  to  return  on  deck  whilst  the  man 
continued  lashed  to  the  foremast.  I  pointed  out  that  he  was 
not  suffering  as  she  fancied,  that  at  all  events  he  had  not  yet 
been  pinioned  long  enough  to  be  in  pain,  and  I  also  begged  her 
to  remember  that  a  posture  and  exposure  which  might  strike 
her  as  a  severe  punishment  would  sit  lightly  upon  a  sailor, 
whose  vocation  is  supposed  to  harden  him  into  the  most  extra- 
ordinary capacity  of  endurance.  But  it  would  not  do.  She 
refused  to  quit  the  cabin  until  the  man  had  been  released,  and 
so  she  remained  below  the  whole  day.  Indeed  I  had  some 
trouble  to  persuade  her  to  dine  at  the  table  with  the  captain, 
though  her  good  sense  helped  her  in  this  at  last ;  but  throughout 
the  meal  she  could  scarcely  bear  to  glance  at  him,  scarcely 
endure  to  listen  to  him. 

On  his  side  he  behaved  as  if  he  were  willing  to  let  bygones 
be  bygones,  as  if  indeed  after  careful  consideration  he  was  on 
the  whole  willing  to  overlook  the  past.  His  dinner  put  him 
into  a  good  humour.  It  consisted  amongst  other  things  of  a 
large  round  of  corned  beef ;  and  when  the  cabin-boy  came 
staggering  with  it  into  the  cabin,  old  Broadwater  seemed  so 
much  impressed  by  the  beauty  of  the  joint  that  he  lay  back 
upon  the  looker,  with  a  carving  knife  and  fork  sticking  up  out 
of  his  great  fists,  which  he  rested  upon  the  table,  and  in  this 
attitude  remained  motionless  for  some  moments,  as  though  his 
transport  would  not  suffer  him  to  move  or  speak.  However,  he 
probably  judged  by  our  faces  that  we  were  in  no  temper  to 
listen  to  his  eulogies  of  the  joint.  He  carved  with  a  counten- 
ance of  rapture,  and  with  an  air  of  concern,  too,  as  though  the 
cutting  up  of  such  a  dish  as  that  was  a  business  not  to  be  lightly 
and  irreverently  approached. 

It  was  necessary  to  talk  to  the  man,  so  I  said, '  If  this  breeze 
bold*  I  suppose  we  shall  soon  be  swept  out  of  soundings  ?' 

K  2 


M  MAROONED 

-f' es,'  he  answered,  pouring  out  a  caulker  of  rum,  and  holding 
uj  the  glass  to  the  skylight  to  see  how  much  it  held.  '  We 
sh  *11  be  having  the  Lizard  over  our  starn  this  time  to-morrow, 
si,-,  if  we  keep  all  on  as  we  are.' 

Upon  my  word,'  said  I,  speaking  somewhat  heedlessly,  out 
of  the  mere  fulness  of  my  thoughts  just  then,  'so  much  has 
happened  since  the  anchor  was  lifted  off  Deal  that  it  seems  as 
it  we  had  been  a  week  on  the  road  already.' 

'What's  happened?'  he  asked  quickly.  'It's  all  been  plain 
sailing,  hasn't  it  ?  There's  been  nothen  that  you  as  a  passenger 
Lave  had  cause  to  grumble  about  ? ' 

'  The  time  seems  long,  anyhow,'  I  responded  curtly. 

*  It  '11  have  to  be  longer  yet  afore  it's  ended,'  said  he,  turning 
his  little  eyes  upon  Miss  Grant. 

She  had  hitherto  kept  silent,  scarce  glancing  at  him :  now 
she  suddenly  exclaimed,  with  a  flash  of  her  dark  eyes  full  into 
his  ruddy  face, '  When  do  you  intend  to  release  the  unfortunate 
man  you  have  fastened  to  the  mast  ? ' 

He  took  a  long  pull  at  his  glass  of  rum-and-water  before 
answering  her,  and  then  said,  '  Not  until  I  think  the  weather's 
had  time  to  purge  him.' 

'  Is  he  to  be  kept  there  all  day  ? '  she  continued. 

'Ay,  mum,  and  all  night  too.  Billy,'  addressing  the  cabin-boy, 
'jump  with  this  here  beef,  my  lad  !  away  with  it !  if  ye  drop  so 
much  as  a  toothful  of  grease,  stand  by !  and  mind  that  the 
pudden's  covered  up  as  ye  bring  it  along,  and  keep  to  leeward 
with  it,  d'ye  hear  ?  for  there's  a  showering  of  spray  to  wind'ard 
now  and  again,  and  if  you  salt  the  pudden  I'll  salt  you! 
The  fact  is,  mum,'  he  continued,  addressing  Miss  Grant  afresh, 
'there's  no, use  in  half-measures  with  sailors.  We've  got  a  crew 
aboard  as  wants  riding  down,  and  the  man  as  needs  inmost  is 
the  yaller  rogue  you're  a-pitying.  Were  the  fellow  an  English- 
man I  don't  know  that  I  shouldn't  consider  a  twelve  hours'  spell 
at  the  foot  of  the  foremast  as  much  as  he  desarves ;  but  he's  a 
half  and  half,  and  my  experience  is,  the  blacker  the  blood  that 
runs  in  a  man's  veins  the  longer's  the  tarmof  teaching  he  stands 
in  need  of.' 

'  Is  he  to  be  kept  without  food  ? '  she  exclaimed. 

'  He  is,  mum,'  he  answered  cheerfully. 

On  this  she  rose  and  left  the  table  without  another  word. 

'  What  makes  the  lady  so  terrible  sensitive  to  sailors'  feelings  t ' 
exclaimed  Broadwater,  with  as  much  puzzlement  on  him  as  his 
countenance  could  express.  '  I  see  she  ain't  married.  Has  she 

a  sweetheart  at  sea*    Onless  maybe  you ?'    He  shut  one 

eye,  and  looked  at  me  with  the  other. 

'Never  concern  yourself  about  her  or  me  either,'  said  I. 
'  Keep  your  mind  clear,  my  friend,  for  you'll  be  wanting  plenty 
of  space  presently  for  the  thoughts  your  crew  '11  fill  you  with.' 

'What  do  you  mean,  sir? '  he  exclaimed,  coarsely  and  angrily. 

'I  mean  this,'  I  replied  quietly,  though  my  feelings  were  hot 


THE  HALF-BLOOD  IS  RELEASED  63 

enough."  'If  you  do  not  shift  your  course  and  head  on »  aother 
tack  with  your  forecastle,  there  '11  be  a  mutiny  aboard  before 
we're  a  week  older.' 

At  this  his  little  mouth  rounded  into  a  complete  cir  cle,  the 
blood  came  into  his  face,  down  dropped  the  slab  of  pudding  he 
was  in  the  act  of  raising  to  his  lips.  'Mutiny!'  be  cried. 
'  Mutiny  aboard  me!  Mutiny  afore  another  week's  out !  Why — 
why — why,'  he  stammered,  '  what  have  ye  been  hearing  c  f  to  put 
such  fancies  into  your  head  ? ' 

'I  judge  by  my  eyes,  not  by  my  ears,'  I  replied,  still  coldly  and 
very  quietly,  'though  I  don't  doubt  that  a  few  minutes  of 
•listening  at  the  fore-scuttle  would  convince  me  even  more  fully 
than  my  sight.' 

Just  then  the  mate  arrived,  having  been  relieved  by  the  boat- 
swain that  he  might  get  his  dinner. 

4  Mr.  Both  well !  Mr.  Both  well ! '  cried  Broad  water,  wfiose  face 
was  of  a  dark  crimson,  '  what  d'ye  think  Mr.  MusgraTre  here's 
a-threatening  ?  Why — why — why,  that  there  '11  be  a  mutiny 
aboard  me  afore  another  week's  out.' 

'  Indeed ! '  answered  the  mate  blandly,  but  ner  ertheless 
exhibiting  his  teeth  in  a  smile  that  made  his  handsrme  face 
mighty  malevolent  while  the  grin  lasted;  'I  hope  not.  On 
what  does  Mr.  Musgrave  found  his  fears,  sir  ? ' 

'On  the  captain's  and  your  usage  of  the  men,' said  I,  resenting 
the  sarcastic  air  of  the  fellow. 

'But  what  have  Captain  Broad  water  and  I  done,  sir,  fo  justify 
this  terrible  apprehension  on  your  part  ? ' 

'  I  want  you  to  understand,  Captain  Broadwater,'  s»  id  I,  not 
choosing  to  heed  the  mate's  question,  'that  you  and  jou  alone 
are  responsible  for  Miss  Grant  s  and  my  safety.  I  now  warn  you 
that  that  safety  is  being  seriously  imperilled  by  your  treatment 
of  the  crew  of  this  brig.  Indeed '  I  continued,  suffering  my 
temper  to  get  the  better  of  me,  already  the  outlook  of  this 
voyage  fills  me  with  so  much  uneasiness  that  since  we  ure  still 
in  the  English  Channel,  and — with  this  wind — withri  a  few 
hours'  run  of  a  port,  Miss  Grant  and  I  are  willing  and  desirous 
that  you  should  set  us  ashore  ;  the  conditions  being,  ot  course, 
that  we  forfeit  our  passage  money.' 

Now  I  had  fully  believed  that  on  my  saying  this  h  *  would 
have  fallen  into  a  violent  passion,  raged  at  and  insul^-^d  me, 
defied  me  to  compel  him  to  head  the  ship  for  the  coast,  and  so 
on.  Instead,  to  my  very  great  surprise,  the  blood  faded  out  of 
his  face  ;  pale  indeed  he  could  not  become,  but  the  disoi  ier  of 
his  mind  manifested  itself  in  a  complexion  that  would  a-iswer 
to  pallor  in  another  man's  countenance.  He  pushed  his  plate 
from  him  as  though  his  appetite  were  gone  for  ever,  and  in  a 
wonderfully  subdued,  changed  voice,  exclaimed,  '  Mr.  Musg  rave, 
sir,  I  beg  that  you'll  banish  that  wish  from  your  mind,  sir  To 
set  ye  ashore  would  be  my  ruination.  There's  nothing  if  tK» 
world,  that  I  can  see,  that  need  make  ye  oncomfortable.  lv  • 


54  MAROONED 

cabins  are  roomy,  the  living  up  to  the  hammer,  there's  ne'er  * 
stouter  vessel  afloat  than  the  Iron  Crown ;  and,  though  it's  me  as 
says  so,  there's  no  man  living  that  Capt'n  Guy  Broadwater  '11 
yield  to  in  the  knowledge  of  navigating  and  handling  a  ship 
under  all  sarcumstances  of  •wind  and  weather.  There's  nothen 
either  in  the  behaviour  of  the  crew  or  in  my  treatment  of  'em 
to  breed  oneasiness.  Indeed,'  he  continued,  speaking  most 
abjectedly, '  if  the  lady's  really  so  consarned  by  the  sight  of  that 
there  Ernest  Charles  at  the  foremast,  why,  then,  to  please  her 
I'll  lubberate  him  in  the  second  dog-watch,  'stead  of  keeping 
him  there  all  night  as  was  my  intention.' 

The  mate  ate  his  dinner  with  a  wooden  face. 

'  You  can  do  as  you  please,  Captain  Broadwater,'  said  I,  rising. 
"I  have  not  the  slightest  intention  to  meddle  with  your  notions 
of  discipline.  I  simply  desire  to  point  out  to  you  that  your 
treatment  of  the  crew  is  such  as  to  render  the  prospects  01  the 
voyage  very  gloomy  indeed,  and  if  you  will  head  the  ship  for 
some  adjacent  English  port,  Miss  Grant  and  I  will  be  very  glad 
to  leave  her.' 

'  I  hope  not,  sir !  I'd  rather  not,  Mr.  Musgrave ! '  he  exclaimed, 
speaking  and  looking  so  dejectedly  that  I  suspected  his  manner 
was  to  a  large  degree  assumed.  'To  shift  the  helm  in  this  here 
wind  would  be  extremely  awkward — extremely  awkward ;  and 
it  'ud  ruin  my  reputation  as  the  master  of  a  passenger  vessel 
if  you  was  to  give  out  the  reasons  of  your  leaving,  which  are  all 
imagination,  sir, — the  fancies  of  a  gent  as  has  long  lost  sight  of 
the  sailor's  character,  and  forgot  that  if  life  was  all  soup  and 
bully  in  the  fo'k'sle  there'd  be  no  work  done — no  work  done 
whatever  I ' 

I  caught  one  of  the  mate's  swift  glances  ;  'twas  as  full  of  malice 
as  could  well  be  packed  into  such  a  nimble  rolL  There  was 
nothing  more  to  be  said,  and  in  silence  I  quitted  the  cabin, 
satisfied  with  my  second  victory  that  day  over  Captain  Broad- 
water,  but  at  the  same  time  also  profoundly  convinced  that  a 
five  minutes'  conversation  with  his  mate  would  influence  the 
old  fellow  into  a  resolution  to  keep  me  and  Miss  Grant  on  board 
at  all  hazards,  trusting  maybe  to  time  to  soften  and  extinguish 
the  prejudice  and  dislike  and  misgivings  we  had  not  scrupled 
to  express  in  one  shape  or  another. 

As  Gordon  had  charge  of  the  deck  until  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  I  endeavoured  to  ascertain  from  him  what  the  men 
thought  of  the  captain's  treatment  of  the  half-blood ;  but  he 
was  very  shy  and  wary,  and  I  believe  would  not  have  conversed 
with  me  upon  the  subject  at  all  had  it  not  been  for  the  sort 
of  kindness  our  chat  on  the  previous  night  had  established 
between  us.  His  reply  was  to  the  effect  that  the  crew  were 
cautious  in  what  they  said  before  him,  but  that,  as  far  as  he 
could  gather,  the  securing  of  the  man  to  the  mast  had  raised 
a  very  strong  feeling  against  the  captain  and  mate,  and  he  said 
he  believed  it  was  only  because  the  culprit  was  a  foreigner  that 


THE  HALF-BLOOD  IS  RELEASED  C5 

they  suffered  him  to  remain  in  that  posture  of  indignitjr  and 
pain.  '  Had  he  been  an  Englishman,'  lie  added,  '  my  opinion  is 
that  they'd  have  £>;one  on  cutting  him  adrift  as  fast  as  the 
oapt'n  could  seize  him  up.' 

The  fellow  still  stood  at  the  mast  bound  as  I  have  already 
described.  Thus  lie  had  been  standing  since  some  time  before 
nine  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Whether  the  crew  had  at  any 
time  of  the  day  fed  him  or  put  a  drink  to  his  lips  I  could  not 
know ;  but  though  it  was  not  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
when  I  made  these  observations,  the  man  already — that  is  to 
say,  after  seven  hours  or  thereabouts — exhibited  such  signs  of 
,  weakness  and  distress  that  one  would  have  said  he  was  merely 
kept  upon  his  feet  by  the  ropes  round  his  body.  I  never  longed 
in  all  my  life  for  anything  so  heartily  as  the  power  to  cast  the 
unhappy  creature  adrift  and  send  him  below  for  a  warm  meal ; 
but  I  nad  spoken  out  freely  and  done  my  best,  and  more  was 
not  to  be  thought  of,  though  I  vowed  in  niy  heart,  as  I  saw  the 
unhappy  creature  wearily  pass  his  hand  over  his  eyes,  and  drop 
his  chin  on  to  his  breast  as  if  his  neck  could  not  support  the 
burthen  of  his  head,  that  if  redress  was  to  be  obtained  for  him 
from  such  machinery  of  law  as  I  might  find  nourishing  at  Rio,  I 
would  not  spare  my  purse  to  procure  it. 

The  wind*  blew  strong  throughout  the  day.  Indeed  before 
six  o'clock  it  had  freshened  into  half  a  gale ;  the  topgallant- 
sails  had  been  furled,  and  the  brig  swept  roaring  through  it 
under  reefed  topsails  and  foresail.  The  height  of  the  seas  which 
chased  us  might  have  made  a  man  think  himself  in  the  middle 
of  the  Atlantic.  Each  billow  rolled  under  us  with  the  weight 
of  the  ocean  surge,  and  it  was  hard  to  realize  that  we  were  still 
in  the  narrow  waters.  The  sky  had  settled  into  that  high,  hard 
stratification  of  greenish-gray  cloud,  with  a  dark  streak  in 
places,  compact  and  apparently  motionless,  which  nearly  always 
signifies  wind,  and  as  a  rule  plenty  of  it.  The  brig  steered 
Avildly,  and  the  perspiration  poured  from  the  face  of  the  man  at 
the  helm  as  he  swung  to  the  wheel,  putting  it  down  and  up, 
whilst  every  floating  rush  of  the  fabric  off  the  liquid  brows 
brought  the  seas  boiling  about  her  quarters,  till  the  curl  of  the 
yeast  there  would  sometimes  be  flush  with  the  rail.  At  sunset 
the  wildness  of  the  glory  was  more  like  the  rising  of  the  lumin- 
ary on  a  stormy  December  morning,  when  the  heavens  open 
and  shut  with  snow-squalls,  than  his  descent  on  a  summer's 
night.  The  heavens  flushed  to  a  furnace-glow — an  angry, 
smoking  crimson,  lightening  into  pink  zenithwards,  and  thence 
floating  away  in  rose  into  the  very  heart  of  the  east.  But  the 
sea  kept  its  dark  green  colour,  and  the  run  of  its  frothing  peaks 
from  one  shining  line  to  another  made  the  glow  of  the  firmament 
as  startling  as  an  unreality  by  the  contrast. 

Miss  Grant  remained  in  the  cabin.  At  the  meal  called  by 
the  captain  'supper'  I  had  begged  her  to  come  on  deck,  tell- 
ing: her  that  Broadwater  (and  I  fixed  my  eyes  on  him  as  I 


M  MAROONED 

spoke)  had  promised  to  free  the  man  during  the  second  dog 
watch. 

'  When  he  is  released  I  will  go  on  deck,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  she 
said,  'but  not  before.  Such  a  sight  is  more  than  I  can  bear, 
and  indeed  it  is  miserable  enough  to  be  down  here  and  feel  that 
the  man  is  still  suffering.' 

4  He  isn't  suffering,  mum,'  said  Broad  water  ;  '  he'd  laugh  at 
you  for  supposin'  it.  The  calling  of  the  sea  turns  sailors'  skins 
into  hides,  and  their  feelings  into  horns.  If  it  didn't  there'd  be 
no  seamen  left,  for  they'd  all  die  off  of  consumption  and  other 
delicate  complaints.  I've  told  Mr.  Musgrave  that  to  accommo- 
date you  the  man  shall  be  lubberated  in  the  second  dog-watch, 
and  that  means  eight  bells  ;  and  obliged  he  ought  to  be,  for  by 
thuwder,  mistress,  if  it  hadn't  been  for  the  consarn  you're  under 
about  him  I'd  have  kept  him  there  till  eight  o'clock  in  the  first 
watch  to-morrow  morning ! ' 

Well,  by  remaining  below  she  missed  not  only  a  fine  and 
wondrous  scene  of  sundown,  but  as  gallant  and  stirring  a  sea- 

Eiece  as  it  was  ever  my  fortune  to  view.  For  whilst  the  sun, 
idden  as  he  was,  hung,  as  I  might  suppose,  some  four  or  five 
degrees  above  the  horizon,  a  cloud  of  canvas  loomed  up  almost 
dead  astern.  The  brig  was  swarming  through  it  at  not  less 
khan  eight  or  nine  knots,  and  yet  here  was  a  ship  growing  out 
jf  the  olive-coloured  welter  as  though  in  very  truth  she  was 
the  rising  moon.  She  was  a  large  black  American  clipper,  fresh 
from  the  Thames,  with  canvas  white  as  cotton,  and  she  had 
every  cloth  abroad,  with  the  exception  of  her  mizen-royal  and 
her  fore  and  main  skysails.  The  press  was  prodigious ;  one 
looked  to  see  the  great  swelling  soft  white  fabric  flashing  into 
a  thousand  fragments,  and  melting  away  upon  the  roar  of  the 
eale  like  snow-flakes.  Her  speed  was  not  less  than  fifteen  knots 
in  the  hour :  I  judged  it  so  by  comparing  her  approach  with  our 
progress.  All  forward  she  was  smothered  to  the  spritsail-yard, 
but  at  irregular  intervals  she  shot  her  long  black  shape  clear  of 
the  dazzle  and  fury  about  her  bows,  but  only  to  smite  the 
trough  with  a  blow  that  hurled  up  a  very  storm  of  white  waters, 
until  you  would  have  taken  her  to  be  a  ship  sweeping  through 
the  first  gatherings  of  a  waterspout.  She  passed  us  close,  flying 
along  as  though  we  were  at  anchor,  and  her  passage  was  that 
of  a  thunderstorm  for  the  sound  of  the  gale  in  her  canvas,  for 
the  rain-like  hissing  all  about  her  sides,  and  for  the  multitu- 
dinous shrieking  of  the  wind  in  her  rigging,  resonant  as  fiddle- 
strings  to  the  enormous  strain  put  upon  every  shroud,  backstay, 
and  brace. 

Broadwater  gazed  at  her  with  an  inimitable  air  of  astonish- 
ment. I  saw  him  looking  up  at  his  own  canvas,  and  then  over 
the  stern  of  the  brig  at  the  wake  there,  as  though  he  could  not 
persuade  himself  that  the  great  clipper  yonder  carried  the 
name  weight  of  wind  under  which  the  Iron  Crown  was  stagger- 
ing. In  a  few  minutes  her  elliptical  stern  was  upon  us,  with 


THE  HALF-BLOOD  IS  RELEASED  67 

swift  upward  hearings  of  the  gleaming  gilt-work  upon  it,  till 
the  letters  of  her  name  showed  glaring  over  her  rudder,  and 
with  flying  plunges  and  slow  majestic  rollings,  the  majestic 
fabric  swept  onwards  with  the  gloom  into  the  west,  until 
presently  she  was  as  visionary  in  the  liquid  obscurity  ahead 
as  the  creaming  of  the  seas  there. 

On  eight  bells  being  struck,  Broadwater,  who  was  standing 
near  the  wheel,  bawled  out,  '  Mr.  Gordon,  cast  that  there  Ernest 
Charles  adrift  from  the  foremast,  and  tell  him  to  lay  aft.' 

I  wondered  what  the  captain  meant  to  say  to  the  unfortunate 
wretch,  whose  long  punishment  certainly  did  not  need  the  top- 
ping off  of  a  round  of  abuse ;  but  finding  he  did  not  appear,  I 
crossed  the  deck  and  observed  a  group  of  seamen  collected  at 
the  foot  of  the  mast.  On  approaching  I  saw  the  figure  of  the 
half-blood  prone  upon  his  back. 

'What  ails  the  man,  Mr.  Gordon?'  said  I ;  'has  he  fainted  ?' 

'It's  exhaustion,  I  allow,'  he  answered. 

'  He's  been  belayed  too  taut — enough  to  prize  his  heart  out  of 
its  moorings,'  exclaimed  one  of  the  sailors  in  a  gruff  voice. 

4  There's  a  flask  of  brandy  in  my  cabin,'  I  exclaimed.  '  Where's 
the  boy?  He'll  find  it.' 

At  this  moment  the  mate  arrived.  'What's  the  trouble  now  t ' 
he  called  out  in  his  shrill,  fierce  voice. 

'  Charles  is  in  a  swound,'  responded  the  boatswain. 

The  mate  bent  his  back,  and  looked  into  the  face  of  the  pro- 
strate man.  The  twilight  was  still  abroad,  but  the  gloom  of  the 
night,  darkened  yet  by  the  shadow  of  vapour  that  overspread 
the  sky,  was  fast  deepening,  and  it  was  already  difficult  to 
distinguish  objects. 

'  Up  you  get ! '  shouted  the  mate,  suddenly  springing  erect, 
with  a  sharp  kick  at  the  recumbent  form.  '  There  s  no  shamming 
allowed  aboard  this  brig.  Up  with  you  !  Up  with  you  ! ' 

He  kicked  him  again  and  yet  again,  and  then,  as  fiercely  as  a 
madman  would  throw  himself  upon  another,  clutched  the  man 
about  the  collar,  and  ran  his  back  against  the  foremast  sheer  on 
to  his  feet. 

I  expected  to  see  him  fall,  but  whether  he  was  actually 
shamming,  as  the  mate  declared,  or  had  been  brought  to  by  Mr. 
Bothwell's  kicks  and  man-handling,  he  opened  his  eyes  and  kept 
his  feet,  though  he  swayed  against  the  mast,  and  I  do  not  doubt 
would  have  fallen  but  for  the  support  of  it. 

'  Aft  with  you  ! '  cried  the  mate ;  '  the  captain  wants  a  word 
with  you  before  you  go  below.' 

'  He'd  better  be  helped  aft,'  said  the  boatswain ; '  small  wonder 
if  he  should  have  lost  the  use  of  his  legs.' 

'  Aft  with  you  ! '  persisted  the  mate. 

The  inhumanity  of  the  fellow  was  maddening.  '  Murder  him 
at  once  ! '  I  cried  ;  '  it  would  be  kinder ! ' 

The  mate  did  not  answer,  did  not  even  look  round  at  me. 
One  of  the  sailors  muttered  something ;  I  did  not  catch  the 


C8  MAROONED 

•words,  but  the  growl  had  a  very  ugly  note  in  it  The  half-blood 
made  a  step,  reeled,  and  fell  heavily.  I  walked  aft  sick  at  heart, 
but  ere  I  had  made  a  few  paces  I  heard  the  mate  exclaim, '  Take 
Mm  below,  then,  take  him  below,'  and  passing  me  he  joined 
the  captain,  and  they  fell  to  pacing  the  deck  together. 

The  night  was  damp,  and  the  force  of  the  wind  put  an  edge  of 
cold  into  it.  There  was  nothing  to  court  Miss  Grant  on  deck  nor 
to  detain  me  there ;  so  I  spent  the  rest  of  the  evening  with  her 
in  the  cabin,  though  conversation  after  a  time  grew  somewhat 
laborious,  owing  to  the  dismal  creakings  and  grpanings  in  the 
heart  of  the  hull  as  it  strained  from  hollow  to  summit,  and  groaned 
again  to  the  stormy  sweep  of  the  blast  into  the  iron-hard  canvas 
aloft.  I  told  my  companion  that  the  half-blood  had  been  freed 
and  taken  below,  but  said  nothing  about  the  brutality  of  the 
mate  nor  the  condition  the  man  appeared  in,  whether  actual  or 
affectedj  when  released  from  the  mast. 

And  indeed  I  do  not  know  that  I  should  have  entered  so 
closely  into  these  particulars,  but  for  the  obligation  I  am  under  to 
exhibit  the  causes  which  lea  to  the  extraordinary  adventures  I 
shall  have  to  relate  before  I  bring  this  narrative  to  a  conclusion. 
At  the  same  time,  as  pictures  of  the  sea  life  are  so  seldom 
attempted,  and  as  the  secret  history  of  the  merchant  sailor  is 
so  little  understood,  I  cannot  but  think  it  proper  that  all  forms 
of  the  vocation,  whether  sunny  or  sombre,  whether  elevating  or 
debasing,  should,  in  the  interests  of  the  mariner,  be  described 
by  those  who  have  an  acquaintance  with  the  calling,  and  who 
are  able  to  plainly  write  down  their  recollections  and  experi- 
ences. I  am  happy  to  know  that  many  of  the  old  forms  of 
inhumanity  on  shipboard  are  extinct,  or  fast  decaying ;  yet 
enough  survives  to  render,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  even  such  a  sketch 
as  I  have  attempted  true  in  many  respects  of  much  that  happens 
in  the  sailing-ship  of  to-day.  The  coarse,  unprincipled  skipper 
still  flourishes ;  mates  of  the  Bothwell  pattern  still  are  to  be 
found  in  plenty  ;  and  though  the  condition  of  the  sailor  has  been 
improved  and  fortified  by  laws  which  had  no  existence  in  the 
days  of  which  I  am  writing,  his  grievances  yet  remain  suffi- 
ciently abundant  to  render  even  a  recurrence  to  the  usages  and 
practices  of  half  a  century  ago  useful  to  him  at  the  present 
moment  as  much  that  continues  habitual  to  his  hard,  toilsome, 
hazardous,  and  unrepresented  vocation.  But  to  proceed. 

The  wind  blew  fresh  all  that  night,  and  did  not  fail  us  until 
we  had  put  twenty  leagues  between  us  and  the  Scilly  Islands. 
It  then  fell  light  and  drew  ahead,  and  forced  us  upon  a  bow-line, 
and  for  twenty-four  hours  we  were  staggering  most  abomin- 
ably upon  a  long  swell,  with  a  true  Biscayan  sweep  in  the  run 
of  it ;  wrinkled  with  the  wind,  but  foamless  ;  swollen  enough  to 
fetch  a  harsh  voice  of  small  ordnance  from  the  canvas  that  it 
swayed  into  violent  slaps  against  the  masts,  and  into  short 
blasts  like  explosions  with  the  sudden  rounding  out  of  the 
cloths.  Affairs  on  board  seemed  to  run  during  this  while  pretty 


THE  HALF-BLOOD  IS  RELEASED  80 

smoothly."  I  saw  the  half-blood  named  Charles  at  work  on  the 
day  following  the  night  of  his  release,  but  I  do  not  know  that 
old  Broadwater  made  further  trouble  of  the  matter  for  which 
the  fellow  had  been  punished.  The  notion,  or  perhaps  the  hope 
rather,  grew  in  me  that  he  meant  to  soften  somewhat  his  trucu- 
lent treatment  of  the  men.  I  had  indeed  spoken  very  plainly, 
and  I  took  it  that  he  had  turned  my  words  over  in  his  mind 
when  he  was  not  too  fuddled  with  liquor  to  think  coherently, 
and  had  determined  not  to  put  it  in  my  power  to  create  a  diffi- 
culty for  him  at  Pdo  or  on  his  return  home.  The  mate,  too, 
seemed  disposed  to  quiet  down,  as  if  he  had  got  his  cue  from  the 
captain.  It  is  true  that  he  could  never  hail  a  man  aloft,  or  call 
-him  when  on  deck,  without  an  exasperating  note  of  quite  un- 
necessary temper  in  the  fling  of  his  voice.  But  it  seemed  to 
me  as  if  he  #as  no  longer  incessantly  on  the  look-out  for  some- 
thingto  fly  in  a  rage  over.  I  suspected,  however,  that  both  he 
and  Broadwater  moderated  their  behaviour  only  when  Miss 
Grant  and  I  were  on  deck.  At  all  events  the  sliip's  work  seemed 
to  be  carried  on  without  much  fret  and  jar  ;  yet,  whether  it  was 
because  the  old  sailorly  instincts  in  me  sharpened  my  sym- 
pathies, or  because  I  feared  that  the  conduct  of  the  captain  and 
his  mate  had  already  raised  a  devil  forward,  which  even  the 
quieter  bearing  of  such  men  as  they  was  not  likely  to  lay,  I 
confess  I  could  never  look  at  the  crew  without  seeming  sensible 
of  an  indefinable  air  amongst  them  which  I  can  best  convey  by 
speaking  of  it  as  a  sort  of  morose  uneasiness. 

Broadwater,  I  am  bound  to  say.  showed  no  sulkiness  towards 
•us  for  our  plain  speaking  and  dealing.  You  would  have  thought 
there  had  been  no  trouble  whatever  between  us  had  you  heard 
him  praising  the  meals  at  table,  bragging  of  his  old  experiences, 
boasting  of  his  brig  as  though  she  was  the  loveliest  frigate  then 
afloat,  and  so  forth.  As  to  the  mate,  we  gave  him  so  wide  a  berth 
that  often  a  whole  day  passed  without  our  exchanging  a  sen- 
tence with  him.  The  only  companionable  creature  aboard  was 
Gordon,  in  whose  quarter-deck  walk  I  was  always  glad  to  join 
when  the  night  came  round  that  gave  him  the  first  watch  as  we 
call  it  at  sea — that  is,  from  eight  to  twelve.  Naturally,  Miss 
Grant  and  I  were  very  much  together.  This,  to  be  sure,  was  un- 
avoidable ;  but  I  own  that  I  would  get  a  bit  troubled  in  my 
mind  when,  after  turning  in  and  extinguishing  the  lamp,  I  found 
my  imagination  haunted  by  her  fine  eyes,  her  noble  figure,  and 
above  all  by  a  certain  sweetness  in  the  tone  of  her  voice  that 
would  at  all  times,  long  after  she  was  silent,  linger  upon  my  ear 
like  a  memory  of  glad  and  gentle  music.  I  sometimes  said  to 
myself,  Suppose  I  fall  in  love  with  her  ?  It  would  be  impossible 
to  conceive  of  a  more  inconvenient  passion.  It  was  idle  to  argue 
•with  myself  and  pretend  that  I  need  not  fall  in  love  with  her 
unless  I  chose.  Eeason  might  talk  very  soberly  about  such  a 
thing,  but  my  instincts  knew  better.  In  short,  not  being 
able  to  make  sure  of  myself  in  this  direction,  I  arrived  at  the 


60  MAROONED 

conclusion  that  I  had  acted  as  a  fool  in  consenting  to  lock  myself 
up  in  a  small  brig  with  a  handsome  woman  whose  heart  was 
another's,  and  to  the  fascination  of  whose  person  and  manners  I 
was  expected  to  oppose  as  immovable  a  countenance  as  old 
Broadwater's.  Had  there  been  other  passengers  we  might  have 
made  shift,  for  considerable  intervals  at  all  events,  to  manage 
without  one  another's  company :  but  we  were  alone — a  condition 
of  the  voyage  I  cannot  say  I  had  seriously  contemplated  or  even 
lightly  thought  of  before  embarking  on  this  adventure — and  the 
result  was  we  were  incessantly  together.  I  had  purchased  a 
chess-board  and  a  pack  or  two  of  cards,  and  when  the  deck 
bored  us,  or  the  weather  there  was  uncomfortable,  we  would  sit 
down  and  play  a  game  in  the  cabin ;  and  I  say  it  was  difficult 
for  me  to  be  hour  after  hour  and  day  after  day  encountering  her 
spirited,  sparkling  glances,  watching  her  smiles,  listening  to  her 
graceful  fancies,  observing  the  fifty  fascinating  elegancies  of  her 
posture  and  movements,  without  thinking  a  very  great  deal 
more  about  her  when  I  was  alone,  and  perhaps  even  when  I  was 
in  her  company,  than  my  honour  could  approve  or  my  judgment 
understand. 


A  MIDNIGHT  ALARM 

WE  had  been  eight  days  out  when  I  met  with  a  very  unpleasant 
experience.  The  brig  was  still  on  the  Spanish  parallels.  The 
night  had  come  down  moonless  and  dark,  and  the  vessel,  close- 
hauled  under  all  plain  sail,  was  quietly  rippling  over  the  breath- 
ing surface  of  the  sea,  with  lines  of  delicate  green  fire  breaking 
from  her  cut-water  to  abreast  of  the  gangway,  where  they 
trembled  out  into  the  deep  blackness  there.  The  air  was  damp 
with  dew,  and  as  Miss  Grant  was  below  and  there  was  nobody 
on  the  quarter-deck  but  the  mate,  I  flung  my  cheroot  overboard, 
and  entered  the  cabin.  There  I  found  my  companion  with  a 
book  in  her  hand,  trying  to  read  by  the  light  of  the  lamp,  whose 
swaying  to  the  movements  of  the  brig  bothered  the  eye  with  a 
flitting  of  shadows.  Broadwater  was  at  his  usual  place  at  the 
table,  with  a  bottle  of  rum  and  a  steaming  glass  before  him.  He 
sat  apparently  lost  in  thought,  with  one  eye  shut  and  the  other 
fixed  upon  the  lamp,  his  little  mouth  rounded  into  the  familiar 
whistling  shape,  his  pear-shaped  nose  as  ruddy  as  the  liquor 
in  the  bottle,  and  the  expression  on  his  face  indescribably  absurd 
with  its  rubicund  cast  of  tipsy  sentiment. 

'  Have  a  glass  of  rum-and-water,  Mr.  Musgrave  ? '  'he  said  to 
me,  with  a  stupid  smile,  pointing  with  a  drooping  finger  to  the 
tumbler  before  him,  yet  speaking  as  if  the  silence  had  grown 
oppressive  and  he  was  glaa  to  break  it. 

I  declined,  and  asked  Miss  Grant  what  she  was  reading.  Before 


A  MIDNIGHT  ALARM  Al 

she  could  answer,  Broadwater  said,  '  Beg  pardon,  Mr.  Musgrave, 
but  can  ye  tell  me  if  you're  a  married  man,  sir  ? 

*  I  certainly  can  tell  you,'  I  replied,  bursting  into  a  laugh  j 
*I  am  not  married.  Are  you  ?' 

'Yes,  sir,'  he  answered,  'and  I  wish  I  wasn't.  She's  a  nice 
young  lady,  but,'  he  added  gloomily, '  I  don't  like  her  mother, 
sir.  That  there  mother  of  hers  is  always  interfering ;  ana 
what's  worse,  she's  got  no  respect  for  me.'  His  hand  wandered 
somewhat  aimlessly  towards  his  glass,  which  he  presently 

S'asped,  half  emptied,  and  replaced  witn  a  heavy  sigh.  'Mr. 
usgrave,'  he  went  on,  'you'll  excuse  me,  sir,  if  you  please. 
You'll  be  marrying  some  of  these  days — bound  to  it — an'  I'd 
-strongly  recommend  ye  to  take  Capt'n  Broadwater's  advice — 
the  advice  of  old  Guy  Broadwater,  who's  as  well  known  from 
Freshwharf  down  to  Blackwall  as  the  Monument  is,  or  the 
tower  of  St.  Paul's :  don't  you  go  and  get  married  to  a  party 
that's  got  a  mother.  If  you  do,  you'll  find  you've  gone  and 
married  'em  both.  There's  nothing  as  weighs  upon  a  man's 
feelings  like  his  wife's  mother.  You  mind,  sir.  Remember  what 
I  says;  and  you'll  recall  this  voyage  as  the  one  sarcumstance  of 
your  life  that  was  the  making  of  ye.' 

He  drained  his  glass,  and  pulling  out  his  great  silver  watch, 
that  seemed  to  pop  from  his  trousers'-band  like  a  cork  from  a 
bottle,  he  cast  an  uncertain  glance  at  it,  and  rose  with  a  succes- 
sion of  nods  at  me,  whilst  he  said, '  Recollect  Capt'n  Broadwater's 
advice,  sir :  it'll  be  the  making  of  ye,'  fell  about  a  little  whilst 
he  replaced  the  bottle  in  the  locker,  and  then,  saluting  Miss 
Grant  with  a  tipsy  smile,  lurched  towards  his  cabin,  talking  to 
himself  as  he  went,  the  burthen  of  his  words  being,  as  far  as  I 
could  collect  it,  '  Take  my  advice,  Mr.  Musgrave ;  it  '11  be  the 
making  of  ye.' 

As  he  was  nightly  in  the  habit  of  withdrawing  to  his  cabin 
more  or  less  overtaken  with  liquor,  we  had  by  this  time  grown 
used  to  the  practice,  had  come  indeed  to  view  it  as  part  of  the 
navigation  of  the  Iron  Crown,  and  had  therefore  nothing  to 
say  about  it  now.  We  sat  talking  for  half  an  hour  or  so  ;  Miss 
Grant  then  went  to  bed ;  and  after  smoking  my  pipe  in  the 
companion-hatchway,  from  which  sheltered  point  I  took  notice 
of  the  heavy  gloom  amid  which  the  ship  was  sailing — a  shadow 
so  thickened  with  the  deep  dusk  of  the  night,  through  which 
here  and  there  a  star  glanced  haggard  and  sparely,  that  the 
fabric  of  spar  and  canvas  was  invisible  from  half  the  height  of 
the  mainmast — I  descended  to  my  berth,  and,  to  use  the  proper 
nautical  expression,  '  turned  in.' 

On  extinguishing  the  light  and  pulling  the  blankets  over  me 
I  found  my  mind  somewhat  threateningly  active.  Maybe  I 
was  a  bit  nervous ;  why,  I  knew  not,  unless  I  harked  back  to 
Broadwater's  supper  and  dinner  table,  in  whose  dishes  indeed 
reasons  might  be  found  for  an  intellectual  condition  only  a  little 
short  of  lunacy.  I  fell  to  thinking  of  the  captain's  being  in 


82  MAROONED 

liquor,  of  the  blackness  through  which  the  bng  was  stemming, 
of  our  safety  being  dependent  upon  the  vigilance  of  the  mate, 
who,  for  all  I  knew,  might  be  snoring  on  his  back  on  the  sky- 
light or  on  a  hencoop,  whilst  the  man  at  the  wheel  lurched 
there  with  eyelids  of  lead  and  his  chin  upon  his  breast.  '  Now 
and  again  came  the  long-drawn  sobbing  sounds  of  water  washing 
along  the  bends  close  against  where  my  head  lay,  with  a  note 
of  yearning  in  the  small  roar  of  its  passage  that  set  me  thinking 
of  the  cold  death  in  the  liquid  profound  under  our  keel,  and  of 
the  slenderness  of  the  structure  of  plank,  tree-nail,  and  beam, 
which  was  our  only  barricade  against  the  intrusion  of  the 
spectre.  Then  Miss  Grant  came  into  my  head,  and  the  thought 
of  her  beauty  put  a  sort  of  light  into  my  mood,  though  my 
fancies  continued  to  hang  in  a  nervous  jumble  upon  my  mind. 
However,  after  awhile  I  fell  asleep,  and  lay  dreamless  for  some 
time,  as  I  believe ;  and  may  have  rested  so  for  an  hour  or  more, 
when  I  had  a  hideous  nightmare.  I  dreamt  that  the  cabin  door 
was  suddenly  flung  open,  and  that  Captain  Broadwater  entered 
with  his  eyes  on  fire  and  his  face  blood-red  with  drink.  He 

grasped  the  immense  carving-knife  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
ourishing  at  table,  and  approached  me  close.  Whence  came 
the  light  by_  which  I  viewed  him  I  know  not ;  but  he  was 
horribly  distinguishable.  He  seemed  to  say,  and  I  quite  under- 
stood him,  that  it  was  his  intention  to  murder  me  because  I 
wished  to  leave  his  ship ;  but  that,  as  his  hatred  of  me  was  too 
intense  to  suffer  him  to  dispatch  me  quickly,  it  was  his  inten- 
tion to  destroy  me  by  degrees.  I  lay  paralyzed,  tried  to  bawl  out 
but  could  utter  no  sound,  endeavoured  to  stir  but  felt  as  dead 
as  a  log  of  wood.  Agony  at  last  broke  the  spell ;  I  awoke,  sprang 
into  a  sitting  posture,  with  the  perspiration  pouring  from  my 
face,  and  stared,  panting  as  if  I  had  been  wounded  to  death, 
into  the  blackness  of  the  cabin. 

As  I  sat  peering  and  endeavouring  to  collect  my  senses,  I  heard 
the  sound  of  what  resembled  a  human  groan.  It  seemed  to  come 
from  the  floor  of  my  cabin.  I  was  still  suffering  from  the  agi- 
tation caused  by  my  nightmare ;  and  my  nerves  having  been 
unduly  wrung,  whilst  I  had  scarcely  yet  had  time  to  recollect 
myself,  I  confess  that  this  strange  and  alarming  noise  filled 
me  with  so  much  consternation  that  I  felt  almost  as  helpless  as 
when  Broadwater  stood  beside  me  in  the  vision.  The  extraordi- 
nary noise  was  repeated  ;  I  could  not  doubt  my  hearing.  It 
rose  from  the  deck  under  my  bunk,  and  was  so  exceedingly  like 
the  groan  of  a  drunken  man  in  pain  that  I  thought  to  myself, 
Good  God !  there  may  be  more  in  my  dream  than  I  am  as  yet 
conscious  of ! 

The  sense  of  the  presence  of  a  real  danger  served  to  rally  me. 
My  tinder-box — I  had  no  other  means  of  procuring  a  lightr— was 
in  the  pocket  of  my  coat  that  hung  near  the  door,  and  it  was 
necessary  to  get  out  of  bed  to  obtain  it.  I  threw  my  legs  over 
the  edge  of  the  bunk  intending  to  very  warily  slide  round  by 


A  MIDNIGHT  ALARM  63 

the  bulkhead  to  where  the  coat  was,  that  I  might  not  tread 
upon  whatever  the  object  might  be  that  groaned  upon  the  deck, 
when  the  noise  sounded  again — a  thick,  snoring,  choking  moan. 
I  whipped  my  legs  into  my  bunk,  much  more  alarmed  than  it 
pleases  me  to  confess.  Great  mercy  !  thought  I,  is  it  conceiv- 
able that  Broadwater  in  a  drunken  fit  has  really  entered  this 
cabin  with  the  design  of  murdering  me,  and  that  the  liquor  ho 
has  swallowed  has  proved  too  potent  at  the  last  moment  to 
enable  him  to  execute  his  horrid  project  ?  If  he  has  a  knife  in 
his  hand,  I  reflected,  starting  as  another  groan  arose,  I  may 
stumble  over  him  in  groping  and  fall  upon  the  blade ;  or  if  I 
should  roll  over  him  he  might  not  be  too  drunk  to  imagine  that 
I  was  attacking  him,  when  of  course  he  would  defend  himself 
and  perhaps  kill  me. 

Another  groan  determined  me.  This  must  end,  thought  I, 
come  what  will ;  and  with  that  I  slipped  over  the  edge  of  my 
bunk,  but  instead  of  touching  the  deck  my  feet  pressed  upon 
a  soft,  naked,  hairy  body.  Before  I  could  cry  out,  the  thing 
started  up  with  a  savage  squeal  and  threw  me  down.  It  ran 
over  me,  but  my  fright  was  so  great  that  I  had  not  the  least 
idea  whether  it  was  man  or  beast,  until,  putting  out  my  hands 
to  protect  myself,  I  grasped  a  curly  tail,  to  my  drag  upon  which 
the  pig — for  a  beast  of  a  pig  it  was  ! — responded  by  making  his 
nature  known  in  a  series  of  ear-piercing  squealings.  I  groped 
for  the  door,  found  it  open  and  swinging  to  the  movement  of  the 
vessel,  and  feeling  for  the  hook  secured  it  backwards  against 
the  bulkhead.  I  then  sought  for  and  tumbled  into  my  small- 
clothes ;  but  whilst  moving  with  my  arms  outstretched  to  where 
I  thought  I  should  find  my  coat,  I  fell  over  the  pig  again.  I  was 
now  as  angry  as  I  had  before  been  frightened  ;  in  truth  I  was 
not  a  little  bruised  with  my  falls,  and  my  temper  was  still 
further  inflamed  by  the  distracting  cries  of  the  pig  whenever  I 
struck  against  it.  Miss  Grant  opened  her  door.  She  had 
lighted  her  lamp,  and  fearing  that  the  beast  _  would  make  for 
her,  I  cried  out,  '  It's  only  a  pig.  I'll  have  him  out  this  in  a 
minute.  Shut  your  door  quickly,  or  he'll  run  in  upon  you.'  She 
instantly  did  as  I  told  her,  but  a  moment  after  I  could  hear  her 
laughing  as  though  she  had  fallen  hysterical. 

I  stepped  cautiously  towards  the  passage,  and  found  the  door 
that  shut  off  the  after  accommodation  from  the  state  cabin 
closed.  But  for  this,  I  should  have  had  light  enough  from  the 
reflection  of  the  dimmed  lantern  that  swung  in  the  cabin  to 
have  seen  by.  By  sliding  my  hands  about  I  succeeded  in  feeling 
the  handle  of  the  door,  which  I  opened  ;  but  the  moment  the  light 
streamed  in  the  pig  ran  for  it,  and  striking  me  on  the  legs  as  it 
swept  past,  threw  me  again  to  the  deck.  The  cabin  skylight 
•was  opened,  and  the  voice  of  some  one  above  called  to  me.  I 
could  iust  distinguish  the  features  of  the  boatswain,  but  before 
I  could  tell  him  what  was  the  matter,  Broadwater,  followed  by 
the  mate,  came  running  out  from  their  berths  in  the  fore  end.' 


$4  MAROONED 

'What  is  it,  what  is  it ?'  shouted  the  old  skipper.  'Anybody 
being  murdered  ? ' 

But  the  mate's  swiftly  rolling  eye  instantly  caught  sight  of 
the  pig,  at  which  he  made  a  spring.  The  creature  with  a  pro- 
digious squeal  slipped,  as  though  its  back  had  been  greased,  out 
of  his  grip,  and  with  a  wild  kick  up  of  its  hind-quarters,  and  a 
defiant  flourish  of  its  tail,  made  in  a  gallop  in  the  direction  of 
the  captain,  through  whose  bow-legs  it  bolted,  bringing  him 
down  as  if  he  had  been  shot.  By  this  time  the  boatswain,  peer- 
ing through  the  skylight  and  seeing  how  it  was,  had  ordered 
some  of  the  men  of  his  watch  to  jump  below  and  catch  the  pig, 
and  down  they  trundled,  four  of  them,  filled  with  anticipations 
of  a  fine  bout  of  skylarking — for  Jack  dearly  loves  a  pig-hunt. 
The  uproar  was  now  prodigious.  The  pig  raced  round  the  cabin 
and  under  the  table,  yelling  like  a  steam  horn  to  every  clutch 
that  was  made  at  it,  and  after  it  went  the  sailors,  tumbling, 
swearing,  laughing,  whilst  the  mate  shouted  to  them  in  a 
shrill  voice  to  bear  a  hand  and  catch  the  brute.  Old  Broad- 
water,  who  appeared  somewhat  dazed  by  his  fall,  sat  upon  a 
locker  rubbing  the  back  of  his  head,  now  and  again  lifting  his 
clenched  fist  as  the  pig  galloped  past  him,  and  heaping  curses 
upon  the  thing  in  a  half -smothered  tone.  The  men,  however, 
enjoyed  the  sport  too  keenly  to  be  in  a  hurry  to  end  it,  and  a 
full  five  minutes  of  roaring,  puffing,  laughing,  and  squeaking 
passed  before  the  pig  was  captured.  It  was  then  carried  away 
by  the  fellows,  one  of  whom  it  seemed  to  me  must  have  tor- 
mented it  in  some  secret  manner,  for  the  squealing  of  the 
beast  as  it  was  borne  up  the  ladder  and  along  the  deck  was 
so  violent  and  sharp-edged  that  it  might  have  been  heard  a 
league  distant. 

Scarce  had  these  distracting  notes  been  silenced,  and  just  as 
I  was  about  to  put  a  question  to  Captain  Broadwater — for  talk 
was  not  to  be  dreamt  of  whilst  that  noise  lasted — I  heard  the 
boatswain  on  deck  cry  out  in  a  loud  And  fearful  tone, '  Hard  up ! 
Hard  up !  Over  with  it,  man,  for  our  lives ! '  and  then  an 
instant  after, '  Ship  ahoy ! '  he  roared,  with  the  same  note  of 
violent  hurry  ana  sense  of  danger  in  his  voice.  '  Port  your 
\ellum !  port  your  helium,  or  you  11  be  into  us ! ' 

The  mate  gained  the  deck  in  a  couple  of  leaps,  Broadwater 
followed  him  as  though  he  had  been  whipped  up  by  a  tackle, 
and  forgetting  that  I  was  without  shoes  or  stockings,  clad  in 
nothing  indeed  but  a  shirt  and  trousers,  I  shot  up  the  ladder  to 
see  what  was  the  matter.  It  took  my  eyes  some  moments  to 
get  used  to  the  gloom,  for  there  was  sheen  enough  in  the  cabin 
to  turn  the  night  black  as  a  wolf's  throat  when  you  rose  out  of 
the  companion-hatch  into  it ;  then  close  upon  our  starboard- 
bow,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  I  spied  a  light  oscillating,  as  though 
passionately  flourished,  and  I  could  just  distinguish  a  huge 
black  shadow  there  like  a  deeper  dye  of  blackness  upon  the 
liquid  dusk  that  overhung  the  ocean.  A  minute  after,  close  by 


A  MIDNIGHT  ALARM  65 

the  first  light  up  sprang  a  second — a  sea-torch  of  turpentine, 
the  long  sickly  flame  of  which  streamed  away  into  smoke, 
though  it  had  power  enough  to  palely  colour  a  small  circum- 
ference of  atmosphere,  out  of  which  there  stole  glimmering  to 
the  illumination  the  rigging  and  lower  canvas  of  a  big  snip. 
She  loomed  up  so  close  aboard  that  the  sight  was  something  to 
hold  a  man  breathless. 

In  the  brief  interval  of  silence  that  followed  the  boatswain's 
cry  to  her  to  port  her  helm,  I  could  distinctly  hear  the  hiss 
and  splash  of  the  curl  of  water  breaking  at  her  stem  ;  the 
voice  of  a  man  rapidly  delivering  orders  as  though  for  life  or 
death  ;  the  rattle  of  tiller  chains  to  the  swift  revolution  of  the 
wheel:  the  flap  of  some  light  sail  aloft 'buried  in  the  black 
void,  hollowing  inwards  as  the  ship,  answering  her  helm, 
rounded  to  the  wind.  One  moment  she  was  off  our  bow,  the 
next  abreast  of  us,  so  close  that  the  face  of  the  man  holding  the 
streaming  flare  tin  glimmered  out  yellow  as  the  rind  of  a  ripe 
lime ;  and  as  he  leaned  from  the  bulwark  rail,  torch  in  hand, 
swinging  at  arm's-length  from  a  backstay,  the  figure  of  him 
upon  the  yellow  atmosphere  of  light  was  for  all  the  world  like 
a  human  shape  wrought  in  black  silk  upon  a  ground  of  rusty 
amber.  I  cowered  involuntarily,  believing  the  stranger's  jib- 
booms  to  be  over  us,  and  expecting  every  minute  to  hear  the 
rending  and  crashing  of  masts  and  strong  fastenings  to  the 
sheering  sweep  of  those  outstretched  spars.  She  was  soon  on 
our  quarter,  and  then  it  was  possible  to  fetch  a  breath ;  though 
even  when  there  you  felt  her  terrifying  presence  in  the  op- 
pression of  the  vast  shadow  of  her  black  heights  upon  the  dusk. 
Presently  the  flare  over  her  side  went  out — the  blotch  she  made 
melted  into  the  general  shadow — and  then  she  was  as  utterly 
gone  from  the  sight,  though  but  a  few  cables'  lengths  distant, 
as  though  she  had  foundered. 

By  this  time  Broadwater  had  recovered  his  faculties,  and  he 
now  let  fly  a  whole  hurricane  of  questions  at  the  boatswain  ; 
demanding  to  know  how  it  was  that  the  vessel  had  not  been 
sighted  sooner,  whether  there  was  a  man  forward  on  the  look- 
out, and  the  like.  But  neither  rage  nor  rum  could  blind  him  tr 
the  almost  preternatural  gloom  of  the  night.  Indeed  it  wa* 
like  being  in  a^vault.  One  or  two  stars  showed  faint  as  tl,e 
dimmest  of  their  own  reflections,  and  it  staggered  one  to  ?ee 
them,  so  unreal  was  their  wan  gleam.  What  had  become  of  the 
moon  I  do  not  know.  The  outline  of  the  brig  met  the  black- 
ness without  a  break,  and  though  I  stood  within  a  couple  of 
yards  of  the  boatswain  and  Broadwater,  I  should  not  have 
known  there  were  people  near  me  but  for  their  voices.  Gordon 
answered  the  skipper  quietly,  said  that  he  had  been  keeping  as 
bright  a  look-out  as  was  practicable  to  mortal  sight  on  such  a 
night;  but  that,  had  he  Jhad  as  many  eyes  in  his  head  as  a 
peacock  carries  in  its  tail,  and  each  eye  a  telescope  at  that, 
it  would  have  been  all  the  same;  to  which  old  Broadwater. 

r 


68  MAROONED 

answered  with  a  growling,  'Well,  boil  me,  if  it  ain't  so!'  and 
after  that  cooled  down  and  spoke  rationally. 

But  just  before  I  went  below  I  heard  Gordon  exclaim,  'It  was 
the  crying  of  the  pig,  sir?  that  made  our  presence  and  position 
known.  The  ship  heard  it.  and  showed  a  light,  guessing  there 
was  some  craft  close  aboard.  If  it  hadn't  been  for  that  squeak- 
ing, I  allow  that  we  should  have  been  on  the  road  to  the  bottom 
before  this.' 


CHAPTER  XI 

A  TRAGEDY 

Toil  will  believe,  after  hearing  the  boatswain's  remark  to  the 
captain,  that  I  was  no  longer  disposed  to  make  a  trouble  of  the 
invasion  of  my  berth  by  the  pig.  A  trifle  light  as  air  will  at  sea, 
and  often  in  an  instant,  become  as  solemn  and  as  serious  a  thing 
as  doom.  I  returned  to  the  cabin  cold  from  the  deck,  with  the 
chill  moreover  in  me  that  a  sudden  danger  and  swift  release 
will  put  into  a  man,  and  going  to  my  berth  I  thrust  my  feet  into 
a  pair  of  warm  slippers,  wrapped  a  dressing-gown  about  me, 
and  re-entered  the  cabin  with  a  bottle  of  brandy  in  my  hand 
for  the  comfort  of  a  dram.  I  was  waiting  for  the  arrival  of 
Broadwater,  desiring  to  gather,  though  without  temper,  how 
the  pig  had  made  its  way  aft,  when  I  was  surprised  by  Miss 
Grant  peeping  through  the  door  that  led  to  our  berths,  and 
then  advancing. 

'  I  expected  you  would  be  up,  Mr.  Musgraye,'  she  exclaimed, 
seating  herself  at  my  side  ;  '  what  a  noisy  time  this  has  been ! 
Far  more  alarming,  indeed,  than  the  commotion  the  other  night 
when  the  poor  man  committed  suicide.  I  have  really  felt 
frightened. 

Yet  she  did  not  look  so.  Her  eyes  were  as  steady,  her  lips 
as  composed,  her  manner  as  quiet  as  ever  they  had  been  in  the 
tranquillest  hour  we  had  passed  together  since  our  first  meeting. 
Her  hair,  roughened  by  the  pillow,  made  her  beauty  the  more 
striking  for  the  disorder  of  it  upon  her  white  forehead  and 
whiter  neck.  It  was  no  moment  to  take  notice  pf  such  trifles, 
but  it  seemed  to  me  that  this  woman  could  never  look  more 
fascinating  than  when  newly  and  hastily  arisen  from  her  couch, 
and  hurriedly  attired  in  a  pink  dressing-gown ! 

I  related  my  story  of  the  adventure  with  the  pig,  at  which  she 
laughed  continuously,  until  I  came  to  tell  her  of  our  narrow 
escape,  and  how,  under  Heaven,  an  incident  that  would  seem 
merry  enough  to  everybody  but  the  person  who  took  part  in  it, 
was  the  cause  of  our  escape  from  a  catastrophe  that  might  have 
sent  every  soul  of  us  to  the  bottom ;  and  then  she  grew  very  grave. 

'  It  needs  an  effort  of  mind/  said  I,  '  to  conceive  of  the  genius 
of  luck  taking  upon  itself  the  aspect  of  a  pig.  Henceforward,  I 


A  TRAGEDY  87 

shall  think  respectfully  of  Broadwater's  affection  for  roast  and 
boiled  pork.' 

'  I  wish  this  voyage  -were  over,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  she  exclaimed. 
'  I  feel  as  if  we  had  already  passed  a  couple  of  months  at  sea. 
Do  you  think  if  the  ship  had  run  into  us  we  should  have  been 
drowned  1 ' 

'Impossible  to  say,  Miss  Grant.  She  was  a  lump  of  a  craft,  to 
judge  by  the  huge  loom  of  her  shadow  ;  and  I  fear  that,  staunch 
as  the  Iron  Crown  may  be,  one  thrust  from  that  big  chap  would 
have  made  old  staves  of  the  little  hooker.' 

At  this  moment  Broadwater's  bow  legs  appeared  in  the  com- 

,panion-way.     Down  he  came,  pulling  off  his  hat  as  he  arrived. 

Sleep,  and  the  turmoil  of  the  pig-hunt,  and  the  alarm  he  was 

fresh  from,  had  cleared  his  head,  and  he  was  as  sober  as  one 

could  wish. 

'  Rather  late  for  you  to  be  a-sitting  up,  Miss,'  said  he,  approach- 
ing the  table,  'there's  no  longer  call  to  be  afraid.  It  it  be  all 
plain  sailing  now  for  the  rest  of  the  night.' 

'  What  time  is  it,  captain  ? '  she  inquired. 

He  pulled  out  his  watch — '  weighed  it '  would  be  the  correct 
term,  for  it  was  like  breaking  out  an  anchor — and  said,  '  Close 
upon  four  bells — two  o'clock,  mum.  Is  that  there  bottle  yours, 
Mr.  Musgrave  ? ' 

I  replied  that  it  was,  and  grasping  the  hint  conveyed  by  the 
question,  begged  him  to  help  himself.  He  smacked  his  lips  to 
the  draught,  for  the  brandy  was  of  my  own  buying,  choice  and 
old,  and  said,  '  A  close  shave  that,  just  now,  sir.  I  don't  know 
that  I  ever  remember  a  darker  night,  considering  it's  fine 
weather.' 

'Ay,'  said  I,  'dark  it  is  ;  much  too  dark  for  human  eyesight, 
as  your  second  mate  truly  said.  "Tis  fortunate  that  we  are 
endowed  with  other  faculties  than  vision  only.  Had  there  not 
been  ears  aboard  the  stranger,  to  catch  the  squeaking  of  my  pig, 
where  should  we  be  now  ? ' 

'  How  could  the  pig  have  got  into  the  cabin  t '  exclaimed  Miss 
Grant. 

'Why,'  answered  Captain  Broad  water,  'he  must  have  broken 
out  of  his  sty  under  the  long-boat,  and  grubbed  along  quietly 
in  the  darkness  until  he  comes  to  the  companion-way,  down 
which  he  rolls,  courted,  maybe,  by  a  smell  of  feedin'.  All  hands 
of  us  aft  being  asleep,  as  I  allow,  there  was  nobody  to  hear  him. 
But  if  that  there  door  was  shut,'  he  added,  pointing,  '  I  don't 
see  how  the  pig  was  to  get  into  your  passage  ;  and  supposing 
your  door  to  have  been  shut,  how  was  he  to  enter  your  cabin  ?' 

It  seems,  however,  that  the  door  that  conducted  to  the  passage 
had  been  left  open,  and  unhooked,  so  that  it  was  likely  the  pig, 
in  grubbing  about,  had  given  it  a  shove  with  its  snout,  and 
slammed  it  to.  But  how  the  creature  contrived  to  enter  my 
cabin,  the  door  of  which  I  remember  having  shut,  I  was  at  a 
loss  to  imagine,  until,  going  presently  to  fetch  a  cheroot — for  I 

7  2 


63  MAROONED 

was  absolutely  sleepless,  and  was  in  the  habit  of  smoking 
whenever  it  pleased  me  in  the  cabin,  with  Miss  Grant's  good 
leave,  of  course — I  examined  the  latch  of  the  door  of  my  berth, 
and  observed  that  the  tongue  caught  so  thinly  that  it  yielded 
to  the  slightest  pressure. 

I  think  Broad/water  would  have  gone  straightway  to  bed  had 
it  not  been  for  my  brandy  bottle.  Miss  Grant  protested  that 
she  felt  too  restless  to  return  to  her  cabin,  and  said  she  wished 
it  were  daylight. 

'  The  dawn  '11  soon  be  coming  along,  Miss,'  said  the  captain  ; 
'  meantime,  what's  there  to  be  uneasy  about  now ? ' 

'The  lady  is  not  uneasy,  captain/  said  I,  'her  rest  has  been 
broken,  and  she  no  longer  feels  sleepy,'  and  I  wondered  that 
even  his  little  eyes  should  not  have  observed  her  composed  and 
tranquil  expression.  Indeed,  it  seemed  to  me  that  what  uneasi- 
ness there  was  lay  altogether  in  him.  His  manner  was  subdued, 
he  spoke  with  a  note  of  respect ;  there  was  that  in  his  bearing 
which  suggested  that  the  weight  of  his  alarm  had  not  yet  lifted, 
and  I  would  see  him  sometimes  shoot  a  look  at  the  companion  or 
up  at  the  skylight,  and  then  thoughtfully  stroke  down  his  nose, 
wnilst  his  little  eyes  met  in  a  squint  upon  the  glass  around 
which  his  carrot-shaped  fingers  were  curled.  He  was  too  much 
of  a  seaman  not  to  know  that  we  had  all  of  us  come  off  just  now 
very  narrowly  indeed  with  our  lives  ;  and  though,  as  I  have  said, 
he  would  no  doubt  have  gone  to  bed  but  for  the  brandy,  he  could 
not  sit  there  and  reflect  upon  what  had  occurred  without  indica- 
tions of  discomposure,  which  contrasted  strongly  with  Miss  G  rant's 
reposeful  expression,  steadfast  eyes,  and  calm,  sweet  utterance. 

And  yet  from  the  few  words  she  had  let  fall,  I  was  sure  that 
she  haa  mastered  the  full  significance  of  the  danger  we  had 
escaped  as  completely  as  if  sue  had  witnessed  the  scene — as 
completely,  indeed,  as  if  she  had  been  as  practical  a  sailor  as  the 
captain  himself.  Once  she  lifted  her  finger  to  the  light  moan 
of  a  sea  running  stealthily  along  the  side  against  which  we 
were  leaning,  and  exclaimed,  '  How  cold  the  sound  is  there  !  I 
remember  once  telling  Alexander  that  qualities  sensible  to  the 
toucli  may  also  be  so  to  the  hearing.  He  did  not  understand 
me ;  but  surely,  Mr.  Musgrave,  isn't  the  icy  breath  of  a  winter's 
blast,  as  it  sweeps  past  the  window,  as  perceptible  to  the  ear  as 
it  would  be  to  the  face  if  one  should  look  out  of  doors  ? ' 

'I  find  nothing  hard  to  understand  in  that  fancy,'  I  replied ; 
meanly  willing,  I  fear,  to  exhibit  my  understanding  as  in  some 
senses  superior  to  her  Alexander's.  '  I  once  saw  a  man  lying 
dead  in  a  posture  of  terror — he  had  died  with  a  shriek,  I  learned ; 
but  I  did  not  need  to  be  told  that,  for  I  could  see  his  cry  in  the 
attitude,  though  Death's  forefinger  had  been  upon  his  lips  for 
twenty-four  hours.' 

'A  queer  sort  of  twisting  of  the  faculties,  ain't  it,  sir?' 
exclaimed  old  Broad  water ;  '  to  see  a  shriek,  and  hear  cold 
weather  1  Thai''  a  kind  of  boiling  above  most  men's  intellectuals, 


A  TRAGEDY  69 

I  should  think.  With  your  good  leave,  Mr.  Musgrave,  I'll  take 
another  drop,  sir.  Good  old  Jamaiky,  as  a  standing  drink,  is  to 
my  taste  unsurpassable  by  any  sort  o'  liquor  to  be  found  in  the 
first  nobleman's  cellar  in  the  country ;  but  a  drop  of  brandy 
after  this  here  pattern  is  an  agreeable  change,  ana  I've  heard,' 
he  continued,  helping  himself,  '  that  an  occasional  wariation  is 
recommended  by  the  doctors  as  sarviceable  to  the  liver.  Your 
health,  sir  ;  Miss,  to  you.' 

He  nodded  with  more  complacency  than  I  had  ever  witnessed 
in  him  when  not  in  his  cups,  and  sighed  with  satisfaction  after 
drinking. 

I  thought  I  would  take  advantage  of  his  mood  to  put  in  a 
good  word  for  his  crew,  and  said,  'Your  fellows  seem  a  lively 
lot-^true  Jacks  when  it  comes  to  a  bout  of  skylarking.  Did  you 
notice  how  they  relished  the  pig-hunt?  I  should  say  there's 
nothing  to  be  afraid  of  in  men  who  possess  their  capacity  of 
enjoying  little  things.' 

I  had  scarce  uttered  these  words,  when,  through  the  silence 
that  followed,  and  through  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  the 
brig,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  there  rang  out  so  wild  and  shrill  a  cry 
of  Imman  anguish,  that  the  like  of  it  I  could  never  imagine 
deliverable  by  human  lips.  You  would  have  sworn  it  was  a 
woman's  voice,  and  had  not  Miss  Grant  been  by  my  side  I  must 
have  thought  it  was  she — as  the  only  one  of  her  sex  on  board — 
who  had  uttered  it. 

' Great  Heavens  ! '  I  cried,  'what  has  happened ?' 

Broadwater  to  the  sound  had  started  to  his  feet,  but  he  then 
appeared  to  be  stricken  helpless,  for  he  stood  staring  with  a 
sort  of  gape  in  the  set  of  his  lips  towards  the  companion-ladder. 
Miss  Grant's  face  was  full  of  consternation,  and  she  kept  her 
eyes  fixed  on  me  with  a  wild  look  of  consternation  in  them.  I 
listened,  expecting  to  hear  a  second  cry.  There  was  a  sound  of 
swift  running  overhead  ;  a  sharp,  angry  shout  in  the  voice  of  the 
boatswain  ;  a  minute  after  the  chief  mate  came  staggering  down 
the  ladder  with  his  hand  to  his  side,  his  dark  face  dreadful  to 
see  with  the  ghastly  colouring  upon  it.  He  stood  whilst  you 
could  have  counted  ten  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder,  swaying,  his 
left  hand  upon  his  heart,  his  right  hand  extended,  his  ashen 
lips  inarticulately  moving ;  then  dropped  without  a  groan,  and 
lay  motionless. 

A  voice  hallooed  on  deck.  I  could  not  catch  the  words,  but  it 
was  easy  to  recognize  Gordon's  tone,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that 
he  was  bawling  for  assistance  from  the  wheel,  or  close  to  it. 
The  light  burnt  dully  in  the  cabin  lantern  ;  I  turned  the  mesh 
high  that  we  might  see  what  was  the  matter  with  the  mate, 
and  then  went  up  to  him.  He  lay  on  his  side,  and  when  I 
looked  at  his  face  I  could  not  question  that  he  was  dead.  He 
had  run  from  the  cabin  in  his  shirt  and  trousers  on  hearing 
the  squealing  of  the  pig,  and  in  that  attire  had  bounded  on 
deck  when  the  boatswain's  sudden  cry  had  raised  the  alarm  of 


70  MAROONED 

collision,  and  thus  was  he  habited  as  he  lay — a  clearly  murdered 
man — at  the  foot  of  the  cabin  steps.  His  left  side  was  dark  in 
the  lamplight  with  the  saturation  of  blood,  and  already  there 
was  a  large  dusky  patch  slowly  sifting  out,  like  ink  upon 
blotting-paper,  over  the  sand-coloured  planks  on  which  the  man 
rested.  His  head  was  uncovered,  his  eyes  half  closed,  his  lips 
had  not  yet  had  time  to  soften  down  out  of  the  rigours  of  their 
grinning  twist  of  agony  and  terror ;  the  gleam  of  his  white 
teeth  was  as  though  he  snarled,  spite  of  his  lying  still.  God 
knows,  handsome  as  the  lineaments  were,  it  was  now  a  face  as 
villainous  for  the  wrinkled  torment  and  fierce  sneer  about  the 
mouth,  and  the  sly  brutality  of  the  half-closed  eyes,  and  the 
savageness  of  the  woolly  hair,  that  even  in  life  when  all  was 
well  with  him  was  enough  to  repel  most  sorts  of  sympathy,  as 
imagination  could  depicture.  I  know  that  the  memory  of  it, 
with  its  base  accentuation  of  stained  deck  and  dyed  shirt, 
haunted  me  for  years,  and  the  thing  is  before  me  at  this 
moment,  though  without  the  old  horror. 

This  is  a  passage  that  takes  some  time  to  describe,  though  the 
interval  between  the  dropping  of  the  killed  man  and  my  bend- 
ing over  him  was  to  have  been  spanned  by  twenty  or  thirty 
seconds.  Broadwater  appeared  to  have  been  bereft  of  reason. 
A  professional  danger — the  thundering  down  of  a  squall  catch- 
ing him  aback,  a  big  ship  under  a  press  close  aboard  him,  white 
water  under  the  bows — might  have  found  him  equal  to  its 
confrontment.  The  vocational  instincts  would  have  gone  to 
work,  and  preserved  him  from  gaping  like  a  fool.  But  here  was 
something  wide  of  his  experience,  a  sudden  violent  shock — a 
frightful  menace  in  its  way,  too,  for  it  was  impossible  to  say 
what  greater  and  blacker  tragedy  yet  lay  secret,  but  sure,  behind 
this  first  and  most  bloody  one.  i 

I  found  Miss  Grant  at  my  side  looking  at  the  body,  with  a 
white  face,  indeed,  but  with  a  bearing  perfectly  collected  and 
self-possessed. 

'  Mr.  Musgrave,'  she  said,  in  a  quick  yet  firm  voice,  '  what  is 
to  be  done  ?  Direct  me :  I  am  prepared  to  assist  you  in  any 
way.' 

'So  far  as  this  man  is  concerned,'  I  answered,  pointing  to  the 
body,,  'there  is  nothing  to  be  done.  Look  at  his  face.  There  is 
no  virtue  for  him  now  in  any  stanching  or  dressing.  He  has 
been  stabbed  to  the  heart  I ' 

She  shuddered,  and  returned  to  her  seat  at  the  table. 

'  Captain  1 '  I  cried  suddenly,  angered  by  the  posture  of  help- 
lessness into  which  this  business  had  struck  him,  'here  is 
murder — murder,  do  you  hear,  sir?  If  your  crew  have  not 
mutinied,  what  else  should  this  signify  ?  There  is  no  leisure  at 
sea,  sir,  for  goggling.  For  God's  sake  go  on  deck,  man,  and  find 
out  what's  the  matter ! ' 

Had  I  run  at  him  with  a  pitchfork,  the  action  could  not  have 
started  him  more  effectually  than  my  speech. 


A  TRAGEDY  71 

/Goggling!  who's  a  goggling?'  he  roared.  *  By  this  and  by 
that,'  and  here  he  bellowed  out  a  whole  volley  of  curses,  'the 
man  who's  done  this  thing  shall  swing  for  it !  From  my  own 
yard-arm  he  shall  swing  for  it,  though  there's  ne'er  a  pair  of 
hands  on  board  but  mine  to  run  the  villain  aloft !  Murder ! 
Murder  aboard  of  me  I  Why,  what  do  they  hope  to  do  ?  what's 
their  intention  ? ' 

He  made  for  the  companion-ladder  with  fury  in  his  looks  and 
gestures  ;  but  at  that  instant  down  thundered  the  second  mate, 
with  his  face  as  white  as  its  dark  tincture  of  weather  would 
suffer  it  to  be,  as  wild  in  his  manner  as  a  demented  man ;  so 
distractedly  agitated  that  his  quick,  distressful  breathing  broke 
up  his  words  as  they  rolled  hoarsely  from  his  lips,  and  it  was 
with  an  effort  you  caught  his  meaning. 

'  Captain  !  captain  ! '  he  cried,  '  there's  been  a  murder  done  ! 
The  mate — ay,  there  he  lies — stabbed,  sir,  stabbed  by  the  half- 
blood  Charles ! ' 

'Where  is  he?'  bellowed  Broadwater,  who  had  come  to  a 
stand  on  seeing  the  boatswain,  but  who  now  gathered  himself 
together  afresh  for  a  spring  on  deck. 

4  Hold,  sir ! '  cried  Gordon,  '  hold !  hear  me  out.  For  God 
Almighty's  sake  deal  with  them  as  though  an  ill  word  now 
should  tarn  'em  all  into  wild  beasts !  Mr.  Musgrave, — sir, — 
you've  been  to  sea.  You  know  that  when  sailor-men  are  ripe 
for  mischief  the  sight  and  smell  of  blood  will  change  the  most 
peaceable  of  them  into  devils.  Tell  the  captain  this,  sir !  beg 
him  to  listen  to  me,  sir,  or  there  '11  be  not  a  life  of  one  of  us  now 
here  collected  as  '11  stand  the  chance  of  that  flame  there  if  you 
was  to  try  and  blow  it  out.' 

'Captain,'  said  I,  half  wild  with  the  thoughts  such  talk  as 
this  put  into  my  head,  as  I  looked  for  an  instant  at  Miss  Grant 
to  mark  what  effect  the  incoherent  consternation  of  the  boat- 
swain produced  upon  her,  'you  must  listen  to  this  man.  He 
has  something  to  tell  you.  There  are  three  of  us ;  I  have 
weapons  of  my  own,  and  you  will  not  be  without  arms.  For 
God  s  sake,  don't  let  the  worst  happen  without  preparation ! 
Sit — be  cool.  There,'  I  cried,  pointing  to  the  body  of  the  mate, 
'  is  something  to  warrant  a  cold  debate  1 '  and  with  that  I  grasped 
him  by  the  arm,  with  a  quick  sense  of  satisfaction  coming  tome, 
somehow  or  other,  out  of  the  feel  of  the  mass  of  muscle  my 
fingers  gripped,  and  shoved  him  towards  a  locker.  He  sat  down, 
with  his  face  as  dark  as  the  stain  on  the  cabin  deck,  without 
speaking,  with  a  fixed  glare  of  his  little  eyes  at  Gordon,  and  a 
kind  of  suffocated  heaving  of  his  breast. 

'  Now,  Gordon  ! '  I  exclaimed. 

The  man  had  already  grown  somewhat  calmer. 

'  Captain,'  he  said,  '  this  is  how  it  happened.  Charles,  the 
half-blood,  was  at  the  wheel.  When  you  went  below,  the  mate,' 
here  he  turned  his  eyes  with  a  sickly  roll  upon  the  body,  and  a 
sharp  catching  of  his  breath, '  came  up  to  me,  and  talked  of,  the. 


72  MAROONED 

craffc  that  had  nearly  run  us  down.  He  spoke  in  a  passion, 
gave  me  hard  words — told  me  I  had  no  eyes,  wasn't  fit  to  take 
charge  of  the  deck,  and  swore  cruelly  that  he'd  reckon  his  own 
eyesight  to  have  been  blasted  if  he'd  have  missed  the  shadow 
long  afore  they  showed  the  binnacle  light  over  the  side.  We 
argued,  and  I  fell  as  hot  as  he.  After  a  long  spell  of  jawing  he 
went  forrads,  and  I  heard  him  talking  to  some  of  the  men  there. 
His  words  went  with  a  snap  in  them — bitter  hard  words  they 
was,  sir ! — a  sight  too  fierce  for  flesh  and  blood  ;  and  the  men 
took  courage,  I  suppose,  from  the  blackness,  and  gave  it  him 
back,  till  forrads  it  grew  into  a  whole  growl  of  curses,  and  then,' 
lie  continued,  with  another  sickened  look  at  the  figure,  'he 
steps  aft  threatening  them  with  a  hundred  work-up  jobs  for  to- 
morrow. He  comes  up  to  me,  and  lets  fly  again.  He  talked  as 
if  he  hadn't  his  right  mind,  and  I  tell  ye  that  I  peered  for  the 
gleam  of  a  knife  in  his  hand,  dark  as  it  was,  for  he  acted  as  if 
he  was  going  to  run  amuck.  It  was  his  watch  below ;  there 
was  nothing  to  keep  him  on  deck  ;  whilst,  if  I  couldn't  boast  of 
his  education,  there  was  nothing  on  God's  ocean  in  the  seafaring 
line  as  he  was  competent  to  teach  me/  He  cast  another  look  of 
dismay  and  disgust  at  the  dead  man,  and  stopped  to  take  a  breath. 

Broadwater  watched  him  with  a  fixed  gaze.  I  was  afraid  he 
would  interrupt  the  fellow,  but  he  had  fallen  into  his  earlier 
posture  of  bewilderment  ana  astonishment. 

'  I  could  follow  him,'  continued  Gordon, '  by  the  white  of  his 
shirt  a-flitting  about  the  deck,  and  after  a  bit  he  walks  to  the 
wheel  where  Charles  was,  and  spoke  to  him.  There  was  some 
muttering ;  then  I  heard  him'  pointing  with  his  finger  at  the 
bodv  without  looking  at  it, '  talking  shrill  as  a  fishwife,  whilst  the 
half-blood  answered  sulkily,  as  a  rrian  struggling  with  his  temper ; 
and  this  went  on  till  of  a  sudden  Mr.  Bothwell  made  the  cry  ye 
must  have  heard,  and  before  I  could  run  aft  he  had  slipped  to 
the  companion,  where  I  lost  sight  of  him.  I  found  the  wheel 
deserted.  The  half-blood  had  gone  forward  in  the  mucky  black- 
ness along  the  line  of  the  larboard  bulwarks,  and  though  I 
noticed  the  slapping  of  shoes,  yet,  not  seeing  him,  I  supposed  he 
was  still  at  the  helm.  I  hallooed  for  some  one  to  lay  aft  and  take 
the  wheel.  The  moment  he  came,  I  says,  "Where's  Charles?" 
"In  the  foTc'sle,"  he  answers.  "What's  he  done?"  says  I,  for  I 
couldn't  guess  at  the  truth  of  the  matter  from  the  noise  of  Mr. 
Bothwell  s  yell.  "  He's  knifed  the  mate,"  says  he.  "  How  do  you 
know  that  ?  "  says  I.  "  Why,"  he  says,  "  afore  dropping  down 
the  scuttle  he  sings  out.  '  Nat — Dan — Terence — is  there  e'er  a 
one  of  you  on  deck  ? '  7  am,'  says  I,  who  was  standing  close. 
'  By  God  ! '  says  he,  '  the  mate  '11  trouble  us  no  more  ;  my  knife 
has  found  his  heart  out !  It  11  be  the  skipper's  turn  next ! ' " 

Broadwater  started  to  his  feet. 

'For  Heaven's  sake,  hear  him  out!'  I  cried;  'time  may  be 
precious :  how  on  earth  shall  we  know  what  to  do  unless  we  get 
the  truth?' 


A  TllAGEDY  » 

The  skipper  had  lifted  his  arm  with  a  frenzied  gesture,  and 
would  have  plunged,  spite  o£  my  entreaty,  into  one  of  his  now 
familiar  roaring  bouts ;  but  happily  he  was  half-suffocated  by 
rage  and  terror,  and  scarcely  able  to  articulate.  He  continued 
to  watch  the  boatswain,  whilst  his  extended  arm  fell  to  his 
side. 

'  When  I  heard  this,'  continued  Gordon,  throwing  a  look  up 
the  companion-ladder  as  if  he  suspected  listeners  there, '  I  went 
forrards,  put  my  head  into  the  scuttle,  and  called  to  Charles. 
He  answered  without  showing  himself.  I  says,  "  In  God's  name, 
what  have  you  gone  and  done  ? "  "  I've  sent  a  villain  to  hell,"  he 
Answers,  "  let  him  come  back  if  he  can."  Some  of  the  chaps 
laughed  at  this.  They  had  trimmed  the  fo'k'sle  lamp  afresn, 
and  all  hands  seemed  wide  awake,  as  no  doubt  they  would  be 
after  the  row  of  the  pig  and  the  danger  we  scraped  clear  of ; 
but  I  tell  ye,  Captain  Broadwater,'  he  continued,  with  another 
look  up  the  ladder,  'that  there  was  a  sound  in  them  men's 
laughter  which  gave  me  to  know  that  a  cask  of  gunpowder,  with 
the  head  knocked  off  lying  clear  for  the  first  spark,  wouldn't  be 
a  bigger  danger  in  the  hold  of  this  vessel  than's  her  fo'k'sle  to 
her  as  it  now  stands,  sir.'  He  paused,  dried  his  face  on  a  great 
blue  handkerchief,  and  then  went  on  speaking  hurriedly.  '  I 
says,  "  Charles,  you  must  come  out  of  that !  No  use  skulking 
below.  There's  no  stabbing  men  in  this  here  craft  and  lying 
snug  after  it.  Up  with  ye  now, — don't  give  me  the  trouble  to 
fetch  ye."  He  bawled  out  a  curse,  keeping  hidden  all  the  time. 
I  put  my  leg  over,  but  ere  I  could  lift  the  other,  four  or  five 
men  sprang  under  the  hatch,  and  one  of  them  said,  "  See  here, 
Mr.  Gordon.  We  don't  owe  you  no  grudge.  These  are  your 
quarters  as  they  are  ourn :  but  the  man's  not  to  be  touched. 
Understand  that !  By  the  Etarnal !  if  so  be  a  finger's  laid  upon 
him  the  capt'n  '11  answer  for  it  with  his  life  ;  so  aft  with  ye,  sir, 
and  give  him  this  piece  of  news  from  his  fo'k'sle."  I  got  out  of 
the  hatch,  and  after  a  look  down  at  the  men,  came  away  to  tell 
ye  what's  happened.' 

I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  offer  no  suggestions,  and  so 
contented  myself  with  watching  Broadwater,  wondering  what 
measures  such  a  head  as  his  would  be  able  to  devise  for  the 
remedying  of  the  horrible  mess  into  which  he  and  his  mate  had 
plunged  us.  He  seemed  to  wake  up  when  the  boatswain  ceased, 
and  fell  to  pacing  the  cabin  in  silence,  measuring  twenty  or 
thirty  strides  before  he  spoke.  He  then  said,  'Better  return 
on  deck,  Mr.  Gordon,  and  look  after  the  brig,  sir.  Send  Billy 
here.'  The  boatswain  ascended  the  ladder ;  Broadwater  resumed 
his  walk. 

One  wants  a  paint-brush  instead  of  a  quill  for  such  a  picture 
as  this.  The  dead  body  of  the  mate ;  Miss  Grant  motionless 
and  composed,  though,  methought,  there  was  the  flash  of  an 
almost  preternatural  vitality  in  the  dark  sweep  of  her  eyes 
whenever  they  met  mine ;  the  short,  square,  muscular  figure  of 


74  MAROONED 

Broadwater  pacing  the  length  of  the  cabin,  staring  ahead  of 
him  with  the  blind,  wooden  look  of  a  figure-head  ;  the  play  of 
shadows  set  dancing  by  the  lamp ;  the  midnight  silence  on 
deck,  the  soft  washing  sound  of  water  running  in  some  sobbing 
black  fold  along  the  bends,  the  creak  and  jar  of  the  fabric  as 
she  rolled  on  the  light  swell,  with  many  a  muffled  note  like  the 
short  laughs  or  sullen  grumblings  of  a  company  of  giants  below, 
stealing  to  our  ear  from  the  freighted  hold  beneath  our  feet — I 
say  there  is  nothing  in  ink  to  give  you  the  colour,  the  horror, 
the  strangeness  of  this  cabin  picture,  and  the  noises  breaking 
into  the  interval  of  silence,  during  which  the  captain  stepped 
from  one  end  to  the  other,  whilst  Miss  Grant  and  I  waited  for 
the  arrival  of  the  boy,  knowing  what  he  was  wanted  for. 

A  few  moments  before  he  came,  Broadwater  halted  at  the 
side  of  the  dead  man,  stooped  and  listened,  grasped  his  wi-ist 
and  held  it,  as  though  feeling  for  the  life  there,  then  shot  erect, 
and  cried  out,  '  Never  before  did  such  a  thing  happen  aboard  of- 
me !  never  before !  And  they  talk  of  murdering  me  too,  hey  ? 
How  many  lives  must  it  cost  'em  ?  how  many  lives  must  it  cost 
'em  ? '  He  thrust  his  hand  into  the  bosom  of  his  shirt,  and  made 
as  if  to  run  to  his  cabin,  but  checked  himself,  wheeled  round, 
and  fell  to  pacing  the  deck  afresh. 

The  boy  arrived.  '  Here,'  shouted  Broadwater,  fiercely,  '  help 
me  to  carry  that  body  to  his  berth.' 

The  unhappy  youth  stood  with  his  knock -knees  trembling  one 
against  the  other,  whilst  he  stared  at  the  corpse  with  eyes 
which  threatened  to  leap  from  their  sockets.  If  ever  human 
hair  stirred  upon  the  head  to  the  agitation  of  the  spirit,  his  did. 
But  his  fear  of  Broadwater  was  livelier  than  his  dread  of  the 
corpse.  Between  them  they  carried  the  body  to  its  berth  in  the 
fore-end,  and  I  had  not  known  how  heavily  the  presence  of  the 
thing  had  hung  upon  me  until  it  was  gone,  when  I  fetched  a 
breath  as  easy  as  a  sigh. 

Broadwater  returned,  and  the  boy  shambling  in  his  wake 
went  stealthily  to  the  ladder,  and  then  fled  up  it  as  though  the 
mate  were  in  pursuit  of  him.  The  captain  looked  through  the 
hatch  as  if  he  meant  to  mount  on  deck,  but  hung  irresolute, 
with  a  short  glance  round  to  me  that  was  like  a  question.  I 
own  that  the  difficulty  with  which  he  was  confronted  was 
enough  to  stagger  a  brighter  intellect  than  his  pork-fed  and 
rum-tinctured  brains.  \et  his  hesitation  at  such  a  juncture 
was  mighty  discomposing  too.  Observing  that  he  continued  to 
stand  in  a  posture  of  doubt  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder,  I  said 
bluntly,  believing  that  a  plain  question  might  help  him, '  Captain, 
what  do  you  mean  to  do  ? ' 

He  looked  at  me  oddly  for  some  moments,  sent  a  glance  into 
the  black  arch  of  atmosphere  formed  by  the  cover  of  the  com- 
panion-way, and  answered  in  a  deep,  sea-growling  note, '  Cursed 
if  I  know.  What  would  you  do  ? ' 

'Wait  till  daylight,  anyhow/ 1  replied ; '  remain  cool,  and  keep 


A  TRAGEDY  75 

my  temper.  That's  what  7  should  resolve  upon  first  For  the* 
rest  I  should  be  guided  by  events.' 

'And  who  says  I  ain't  cool?'  he  cried,  in  a  quarrelsome  way, 

'and  as  to  losing  my  temper '  he  stopped  dead  to  the  sudden 

choke  of  rage  in  his  throat,  clenched  both  fists  till  I  noticed  the 
veins  stand  out  black  to  the  tension  like  whipcord  under  the 
flesh,  lifted  his  arms  to  the  deck  overhead,  and  shook  them  con- 
vulsively in  a  fit  of  speechless  passion ;  then  looking  for  his  cap 
he  pulled  it  fiercely  down  to  his  ears,  and  went  with  a  heavy 
tread  up  the  steps. 

'We  ought  to  be  grateful,'  said  I,  'that  the  fellow's  rage  is 
-often  too  great  to  enable  him  to  speak.  His  speechlessness  was 
the  very  petrifaction  of  his  curses ! ' 

'  He  is  not  the  man,'  she  exclaimed, '  for  such  an  emergency 
as  this.  Pray  God  there  may  be  some  good  sense  left  amongst 
the  crew.  If  not,  what  will  happen  ? ' 

'  I  comfort  myself  with  the  thought,'  I  replied,  '  that  sailors 
are  slow  to  mutiny.  They  know  the  law.  If  they  refuse  their 
duty,  certain  and  severe  punishment  awaits  them  ashore ;  if 
they  seize  the  vessel,  it  is  piracy — a  criminal  act  that  ends  with 
Jack  Ketch.  If  they  murder — but  enough  of  such  talk,  Miss 
Grant.  Here  has  been  a  wild  disturbance  that  may  presently 
settle  down  into  a  sulky  calm ;  and  let  the  tranquillity  be  as 
sinister  as  it  will,  providing  we  can  step  ashore  at  Bio  before  it 
ends,  we  shall  have  reason  to  be  satisfied.' 

She  glanced  at  the  dark  stain  on  the  deck,  a  slight  shiver  ran 
through  her,  and  she  folded  her  arms  across  her  breast  as  though 
for  the  warmth  of  them. 

'  What  a  night  this  has  been  ! '  she  cried  ; '  indeed,  what  a  time 
the  whole  voyage  has  been,  so  far  as  it  has  gone !  I  have  heard 
stories  of  wild  doings  in  vessels  of  this  kind  trading  to  the 
West  Indies  and  to  South  America,  but  nothing  to  equal  our 
experiences ! ' 

She  shivered  again  ;  I  caught  a  tremble  in  her  under-lip,  and  a 
swift  expression  of  mingled  worry  and  horror  in  her  eyes,  and 
fearing  that  she  would  break  down, — and  surely  what  she  had 
seen  and  suffered  since  she  had  quitted  her  berth  might  well 
have  broken  a  hardier  spirit  than  ever  woman  was  yet  informed 
with, — I  poured  a  little  brandy  into  a  glass,  and  begged  her  to 
drink  it ;  but  she  waved  it  aside  with  a  sudden  proud  smile, 
sweet  with  kindness  too. 

'Do  not  misjudge  me,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  she  said  ;  'if  I  seem  to 
falter  in  a  time  of  trouble,  it  is  not,  I  think,  from  want  of  courage. 
It  is  the  sense  of  uncertainty  that  always  weakens  me  most — 
the  not  knowing  what  to  do.  She  suddenly  ceased,  lifting  her 
hand  to  motion  silence  ;  but  the  noise  was  no  more  than  the 
growling  of  old  Broadwater's  voice  talking  to  the  boatswain 
close  against  the  cabin  skylight,  one  frame  of  which  stood  open. 
We  strained  our  ears,  but  could  not  catch  words  enough  to 
.enable  us  to  gather  the  import  of  their  talk.  I  advised  her  to 


7t  MAROONED 

return  to  her  berth,  and  sleep  out  the  rest  of  the  night  if  she 
could.  She  smiled  at  my  speaking  of  sleep,  and  said  she  would 
go  to  her  berth  and  dress  herself. 

'But  you  will  not  come  on  deck,  Miss  Grant?' 

'Why  not?' 

'  Be  advised  by  me,  I  beg  you.  It  is  bleak  and  black ;  what 
can  you  do  on  deck  ?  Next,  in  the  present  temper  of  the  men,  I 
could  wish  you  to  keep  out  of  sight  of  them.  The  dawn  will 
soon  be  at  hand,  and  sunrise  may  give  a  new  complexion  to  our 
afiairs.' 

'I  will  do  whatever  you  please,'  she  said ; '  I  merely  need  advice. 
What  follows  I  hope  I  shall  have  courage  enough  to  meet,'  and 
with  another  smile — so  full  of  spirit  that  it  was  almost  enough 
to  make  one  doubt  that  she  fully  grasped  the  significance  of  our 
dangerous  situation,  in  a  small  brig  with  murder  newly  done, 
and  the  crew  sheltering  and  making  a  hero  of  the  assassin — she 
entered  her  berth.  Ten  minutes  after,  I  quitted  my  own  cabin, 
fully  dressed,  and  went  on  deck. 


CHAPTER  XH 

MUTINY 

As  I  stepped  over  the  coaming  of  the  hatch,  I  caught  sight  of 
the  dawn  sifting  out  into  dim  ash  along  the  seaboard  on  the 
port,  or,  as  we  then  termed  it,  the  larboard  side.  It  was  a  cold, 
unearthly  light,  and  against  it  the  sea-line  ran  in  a  short  clear 
ruling,  black  as  liquid  pitch.  The  wind  was  a  quiet  breeze,  as 
it  had  been  throughout  the  night ;  but  the  swell  had  veered 
from  abeam  to  the  starboard  quarter,  and  swung  the  brig 
onwards  in  gliding,  floating  movements,  though  that  her  sails 
were  doing  their  work  you  knew  by  the  sound  of  the  singing  of 
running  waters  rising  from  the  obscurity,  mingled  with  a  dull 
noise  of  moaning,  and  the  flat  echoless  plashing  of  ripple 
colliding  with  ripple  into  short  spouts  of  sea,  which  leaped 
without  life  round  about  the  vessel's  quarters. 

Even  as  the  dawn  broke  it  was  yet  so  dark  that  there  was 
nothing  to  be  seen  but  the  filtering  light ;  but  this  brightened 
fast  into  a  ragged  sort  of  staring  of  the  radiance  over  streaks 
and  through  tail-ends  of  clouds,  until  the  whole  circumference 
of  the  horizon  sloped  dark  to  the  vague  gray  of  the  sky,  with 
a  slow  writhing,  wonderful  to  behold,  of  the  shadowy  substance 
of  the  brig's  sails,  masts,  and  hull,  into  determinable  forms,  out 
of  what  was  just  now  mere  impalpable  blocks  of  dusk  one  on 
top  of  another. 

1  can  conceive  of  no  spectacle  more  melancholy  and  cheerless 
than  the  first  breaking  of  day  over  the  wide  and  troubled 
ocean.  There  is  a  bleakness  in  the  aspect  of  pallid  heaven 
mad  yet  darkling  water,  and  in  the  gray  complexion  of  the 


MUTINY  77 

canvas  and  rigging  of  the  ship,  that  enters  the  atmosphere 
as  a  sensible  quality  of  cold  ;  and  I  have  known  men  who, 
though  they  had  been  on  deck  for  several  hours  without  feeling 
the  edge  of  the  wind,  have  slapped  their  breasts  with  a  shudder 
to  the  first  opening  of  the  desolate  faintness  in  the  east.  But 
it  was  soon  broad  daylight.  The  broken,  blind  sort  of  stare 
among  the  clouds  to  larboard  melted  out  into  the  flooding  of 
effulgent  pink — the  sun  lifted  a  segment  of  rose-red  glory — a 
sinuous  stream  of  radiance  flashed  from  one  blue  brow  to 
another  down  to  within  a  musket-shot  of  us — then  you  saw  a 
piebald  sky,  mottled  into  rich  marble  with  dashes  of  white 
vapour — a  broad-bosomed  swell  rolling  in  folds  of  dark  blue 
and  brimming  to  our  channels,  freckled  with  foaming  wrinkles. 

There  were  some  men  talking  near  the  fore-hatch  ;  occasion- 
ally they  directed  their  glances  aft  to  the  quarter-deck,  where 
the  captain  and  boatswain  stood  in  silent  waiting,  as  it  seemed 
to  me,  until  the  spring  of  the  sun  from  the  ocean  should  fairly 
settle  the  dawn  into  day.  I  took  a  long  survey  of  the  blue 
circle,  but  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen.  Not  that  there  was 
anything  to  be  hoped  from  the  sight  of  a  ship,  unless,  indeed, 
she  should  prove  a  man-of-war ;  for  our  trouble  was  not  of  a 
kind  that  a  merchantman  could  meddle  with.  How  could  her 
people  serve  us  ?  Advice  was  hardly  likely  to  prove  profitable 
to  Broadwater,  and  more  than  that  he  was  not  going  to  obtain 
by  backing  his  topsail  to  speak  a  stranger  and  asking  him  to 
send  a  boat.  And  yet  even  the  remotest  gleam  of  a  ship  would 
have  yielded  me  a  sort  of  feeling  of  relief,  by  qualifying,  however 
worthlessly,  the  profound  sense  of  loneliness  that  possessed  me 
on  first  seeing  the  vast  stretch  of  liquid  waste  bathed  in  the 
delicate  light  of  the  sunrise. 

There  was  an  air  of  surly  and  defiant  stubbornness  in  the 
postures  and  glances  of  the  group  forward  that  was  instantly 
noticeable.  I  counted  seven  of  them,  and  supposed,  therefore, 
that  amongst  them  was  one  or  more  of  that  division  of  the  crew 
which  had  the  watch  below.  They  appeared  to  be  holding  a 
council ;  and  it  was  startling,  I  can  tell  you,  to  mark  their  forms, 
so  to  speak,  come  out  from  the  blackness  into  the  dawn,  and  to 
think  of  them  as  having  been  there  talking  one  to.  another  as 
they  now  were  when  the  darkness  hid  them. 

I  looked  for  the  man  Charles,  but  he  was  not  on  deck.  No 
doubt  it  was  the  fancies  put  into  my  head  by  the  thought  of  the 
dead  creature  below,  which  helped  my  imagination  to  colour  and 
accentuate  the  attitudes  and  expressions  of  the  fellows  ;  but  even 
though  the  night  had  passed  as  tranquilly  as  the  preceding  one. 
I  must  still,  though  bending  the  most  incurious  eve  in  the  worla 
upon  them,  have  found  something  in  their  varied  demeanour  to 
render  me  uneasy.  There  was  doggedness  and  obstinacy  in  the 
plant  of  the  figures  swaying  upon  their  legs  to  the  heave  of  the 
deck ;  in  the  arms  squared  firmly  upon  the  breast,  the  rugged 
wrist  of  one  hand  showing  out  past  the  dark  half-concealed 


W  MAROONED 

knuckles  of  the  other ;  in  the  challenging  glances  aft ;  in  the 
well-conveyed  indifference  to  the  presence  01  the  master. 

The  second  mate  had  a  very  worn  and  haggard  look.  He 
showed  like  a  man  worried  to  the  heart;  but  I  think  it  must 
have  been  the  shock  of  Bothwell's  murder  that  paled  and  length- 
lined  his  face,  for  he  had  used  the  sea  for  too  many  years,  and 
had  lived  too  closely  with  sailors,  to  be  scared  to  the  degree 
that  his  visage  and  manner  now  indicated  by  mere  mutinous 
mutterings  and  loafing  insolent  attitudes.  As  to  old  Broad  water, 
it  was  quite  impossible  for  him  to  look  gaunt ;  his  purple 
countenance  was  as  much  a  part  of  him  as  his  ears  or  his  feet, 
and  he  would  die  with  it  on  him  as  a  negro  dies  with  a  black  skin. 
But  the  incidents  of  the  night  had  done  their  work  with  him, 
nevertheless.  The  arch  over  each  eye  was  sharper :  in  quiet 
times  this  would  have  made  him  appear  as  though  labouring 
under  astonishment,  but  there  were  other  features  and  other 
expressions  to  lift  tliis  aspect  of  surprise  into  a  look  of  savage 
consternation.  Had  I  viewed  him  without  knowing  what  was 
the  matter,  I  should  have  imagined  that  he  had  been  on  deck 
day  and  night  for  a  week,  exposed  to  violent  and  dangerous 
weather,  during  which  his  mind  had  been  heavily  strained  by 
anxiety. 

There  was  a  man  named  Daniel  Ladova,  another  half-blood, 
as  I  supposed,  standing  at  the  wheel,  and  I  could  have  laughed 
outright  at  the  pat  fit  of  the  fellow's  face  to  the  circumstances 
of  the  time ;  for  though  I  dare  say  he  may  have  been  at  bottom 
as  steady,  respectable,  and  sober  a  creature  as  one  could  wish  to 
see  in  a  ship's  forecastle,  yet  he  was  so  confoundedly  ugly,  with 
his  flat  nose,  the  nostrils  whereof  were  stretched  past  the  line 
of  his  eyes,  his  wide  mouth  and  negro  fulness  of  lips,  his  coal- 
black,  long,  streaky  Indian  hair,  low  forehead  and  complexion 
of  saffron,  the  whole  topped  off  by  the  sieve-like  pitting  of  small- 
pox, that  one  might  have  searched  every  shipping-yard  in  Great 
Britain  without  meeting  with  a  fellow  better  qualified  by  his 
looks  to  stand  at  the  brig's  helm  in  this  particular  juncture. 

Suddenly  Broadwater  made  some  observation  to  Gordon,  and 
walked  aft.  The  boatswain  called  out,  '  Forward  there  !  Send 
Charles  aft,  one  of  you ! '  but  there  was  a  half-heartedness  in 
his  way  of  singing  out  that  made  one  feel  he  regarded  the 
captain's  command  as  purposeless  and  ridiculous. 

The  fellows  lounging  about  the  foremast  looked  round  to  the 
hail,  but  only  quitted  their  posture  to  that  extent.  No  one 
called  to  Charles,  no  one  even  approached  the  scuttle  to  do  so. 

'D'ye  hear  what  I  say,  men?  repeated  Gordon,  but  in  the 
same  half -spirited  tone,  as  though  the  bother  of  this  time  had 
taken  most  of  the  manhood  out  of  him ; '  one  of  you  tell  Charles 
that  the  captain  wants  him  aft.' 

*  Charles  has  got  nothen  to  do  with  us,'  cried  back  one  of  the 
fellows,  huskily j  '  if  the  capt'n  wants  h\mt  he  knows  where  to 

fini\  hjm/ 


MXJTINY  7* 

Bread-water  bawled  from  the  station  he  occupied  near  the 
wheel, '  What  are  they  a-saying,  Mr.  Gordon  ?  What  are  they 
a-saying,  sir  ? ' 

The  boatswain  replied, '  If  we  want  the  half-blood,  we  must 
call  him  ourselves.' 

4  Send  all  hands  aft !  send  all  hands  aft ! '  shouted  Broadwater 
furiously,  stepping  forward  by  half-a-dozen  angry;  strides,  and 
then  halting,  with  his  chest  rising  and  falling  to  his  passionate 
breathing,  that  was  not  all  pure  wrath  either,  for  I  could  fee  I 
the  irresolution  that  lay  under  all  this  show  of  temper,  and 
guessed  that  but  very  little  likely  to  prove  useful  to  us  could 
follow  on  any  intentions  he  might  have  in  his  mind. 
-  The  boatswain  instantly  roared  out,  '  Lay  aft  all  hands  ! '  in 
much  such  a  hurricane  note  as  he  would  have  delivered  in  a 
gale  of  wind,  in  summoning  all  hands  to  reef  topsails. 

My  heart  beat  fast  now,  I  confess,  for  the  men's  refusal  to 
obey  this  order  would  signify  mutiny ;  and  though  from  the 
first  hour  of  my  climbing  aboard  the  Iron  Crown  I  had  been 
apprehensive  of  grievous  trouble  in  this  way,  now  that  it  had 
come  to  look  as  if  the  thing  was  about  to  happen,  I  was  as 
much  agitated  as  though  I  had  never  given  it  a  thought,  and  it 
had  broken  upon  us  on  a  sudden.  Judge,  then,  of  my  relief,  when 
I  saw  the  knot  of  men  gathered  about  the  foremast  leisurely 
make  their  way  aft  with  a  shambling,  devil-may-care  gait  for 
the  most  part ;  one  or  two  with  a  half  grin,  which  was  less 
suited  to  my  taste  than  the  mulish,  sullen  countenances  the 
others  carried.  The  captain,  leaning  forwards  and  backwards 
on  his  curved  legs  to  tne  swing  of  the  ship,  his  arms  up  and 
down,  his  hands  clenched  to  the  appearance  of  small  rounds  of 
beef,  his  cap  jammed  so  tightly  down  upon  his  head  that  the 
upper  rounds  of  his  ears  forked  out  with  the  pressure,  stood 
fixedly  regarding  the  sailors  as  they  approached.  Meanwhile 
the  boatswain  had  gone  forward,  and  picking  up  a  handspike, 
thumped  the  deck  heavily  with  it,  whilst  with  his  head  over- 
hanging the  scuttle — by  which  I  would  have  you  understand  the 
little  forecastle-hatch  through  which  the  men  emerged  from,  or 
dropped  into  their  quarters — he  delivered  a  second  leather- 
lunged  roar  of  '  All  hands  lay  aft ! '  emphasizing  his  cry  with  a 
further  smiting  of  the  deck  with  his  bar,  which  he  then  threw 
down.  This  done,  he  came  away,  and  stood  a  little  abaft  the 
main-rigging,  the  captain  having  posted  himself  abreast  of  the 
companion-hatch.  In  a  few  moments  the  rest  of  the  men  who 
were  in  the  forecastle  tumbled  up,  hoisting  themselves  out  with 
their  elbows,  and  vaulting  lightly  on  to  the  deck,  with  a  sailor's 
enjoyment  of  an  incident  that  at  least  gave  them  something 
else  to  think  of  than  the  cheerless,  laborious  routine  of  the 
ship's  work. 

The  sun  was  now  risen,  and  some  degrees  above  the  horizon. 
It  was  half -past  four  in  the  morning,  maybe  later ;  one  takes 
no  particular  account  of  time  in  such  passages  as  these.  Th» 


CO  MAROONED 


breeze  blew  steadily,  and  the  brig  buzzed  softly  over  the 
blue  hills  of  swell,  which,  as  they  ran  into  the  south-east  quarter. 
lifted  the  molten  silver  of  the  sun's  reflection  upon  their  broaa 
shoulders  in  regular  procession,  till  the  white  dazzle  there  was 
as  blinding  as  a  glance  at  the  luminary  himself.  I  had  often 
read  of  difficulties  of  this  kind  happening  at  sea,  but  never 
been  brought  face  to  face  with  the  reality;  and  I  remember 
thinking,  as  I  stood  on  the  larboard  side  of  the  vessel,  close 
against  the  quarter-boat,  and  ran  my  eye  over  the  group  that 
had  come  to  a  stand  a  little  abaft  the  mainmast,  that  though 
the  perils  of  the  deep  be  many,  some  frightful,  and  all  of  them 
formidable,  the  worst  of  them,  ay,  even  tire  itself,  must  yield  in 
horror  to  mutiny,  —  where  men  arm  themselves  against  their 
fellows,  where  the  passions  of  undisciplined  minds  are  let  loose, 
where  tyrannic  authority  and  bitter  grievance  come  in  conflict, 
and  where  the  struggle  is  inflamed  and  rendered  wilder  than 
anything  of  a  like  sort  could  ever  become  ashore  through  the 
forecastle  perception  that,  the  bad  business  once  entered  upon, 
there  is  no  mercy  to  be  expected  in  the  event  of  failure,  no 
hope  to  be  cherished  should  rebellion  prove  successful.  In 
disaster  men  work  together  for  their  lives  ;  in  mutiny  they 
work  together  for  their  own  destruction.  The  swdlSp  of  the 
sparkling  sea-line  round  about  us  was  like  the  con/pression  of 
the  very  spirit  of  loneliness  into  our  little  brig.  There  was 
nothing  to  help  the  eye,  to  ease,  by  a  solitary  detail  of  discipline, 
the  perturbation  excited  by  the  scene.  On  board  an  Indiaman, 
for  instance,  there  would  have  been  mates  and  midshipmen  in 
plenty,  loyal  to  the  commander  :  with  an  array  of  passengers, 
maybe,  in  whose  fidelity  one  could  count  in  the  name  of  self- 
concern.  It  would  be  strange,  too,  if  the  whole  of  a  big  ship's 
company  should  prove  disaffected  •  so  that  the  quarter-deck 
might  reckon  at  least  on  the  negative  services  of  a  portion  of 
the  crew.  But  if  yonder  crowd,  gathered  about  the  mainmast, 
and  staring  with  mingled  derision  and  hate  at  the  square, 
round-legged,  red-faced  man,  whose  lifted  brows  and  whistling 
mouth  put  the  expression  of  a  gape  into  his  countenance,  broke 
into  revolt,  what  should  our  case  prove  ?  I  counted  ten  of  them, 
and  the  man  who  steered  would  make  eleven,  and  Charles,  who 
skulked  below,  twelva  Twelve  reckless  fellows,  with  the  scent 
of  the  assassin  s  knife  fresh  in  their  nostrils,  with  instincts  and 
yearnings  perhaps  made  devilish  by  the  memory  of  a  usage  of 
which  I  as  a  passenger  must  needs  have  seen  but  a  very  little 
part,  though  1^  had  witnessed  enough  to  convince  me  that  had 
I  been  of  their  company,  and  suffered  as  they  had,  my  resent- 
ment would  surely  not  have  left  me  among  the  hindmost  of 
them  in  the  posture  they  now  exhibited  ! 

The  picture  was  as  nautical  as  the  most  ardent  lover  of  ocean- 
pieces  could  desire.  The  men  were  variously  attired  :  in  blue 
dungaree  —  in  patched  canvas  breeches  —  in  half-boots,  and 
coloured  shirts  which  revealed  their  brawny  breasts  bare  to  the 


MUTINY  81 

dark  moss  upon  them — here  a  round  hat,  there  a  sou'-wester, 
and  around  every  sailor's  waist  was  the  narrow  sea-belt,  with  a 
sheath  of  leather  upon  the  hip,  holding,  convenient  to  the  grasp, 
the  black  haft  of  a  dagger-shaped  knife.  The  shadows  of  the 
rigging  crawled  upon  them,  as  the  vessel,  with  a  little  humming 
or  water  at  her  bow,  floated,  with  cradling  swings,  from  one 
sapphire  knoll  to  another ;  not  a  feature  but  had  the  true 
oceanic  colour :  the  coils  of  rigging  swinging  at  the  belaying- 
pins,  the  big  scuttle-butt  securely  seized  under  the  high  bul- 
wark, the  little  white  caboose  with  its  head  of  black  chimney 
whence  blew  a  vein  of  blue  smoke,  the  yellow  long-boat  amid- 
.  ships  snugged  under  the  spare  booms,  with  a  black  snout  pro- 
jecting from  the  sty  under  it,  and  a  darting  and  withdrawal 
beyond  of  the  heads  of  cocks  and  hens  glancing  like  red  rags  as 
they  showed  and  vanished  through  the  bars  of  the  coops. 
Aloft,  swelling  gently,  rose  courses  and  topsails  to  the  little 
royals,  with  a  breezy  stir  of  shadows  in  the  hollows,  and  a 
pearly  curve  sunwards  where  the  bosom,  arching  beyond  the 
bolt-rope,  caught  the  full  splendour  shining  out  of  the  east. 

Broadwater  pulled  off  his  hat,  dried  his  forehead,  covered 
himself  afresh,  and  approached  the  men  by  half-a-dozen  paces. 

' Is  the  man  Charles  among  ye ? '  said  he  j  'if  so,  let  him  step 
out,  for  it's  him,  I  want,  not  you! 

Of  course  he  knew  perfectly  well  that  the  half-blood  did  not 
form  one  of  that  little  crowd.  Perhaps  he  meant  to  convey 
that  he  had  not  deigned  to  glance  at  the  fellows ;  but  this  was 
absurd,  for  every  man  as  he  stepped  aft  must  have  observed 
that  the  captain  watched  him  as  a  terrier  does  an  approaching 
rat.  One  or  two  of  them  glanced  over  their  shoulders,  as  though 
believing  that  the  half-blood  had  come  from  the  forecastle.  No 
answer  was  returned  to  Broadwater's  inquiry. 

'Now.  look  here,  men,'  he  continued,  with  an  air  of  bluster 
which  I  hoped  would  not  increase  upon  him,  'you  know,  of 
course,  that  Charles  committed  murder  this  morning  by  stabbing 
the  mate,  who  lies  a  dead  body  in  his  bunk  below ;  and  you 
likewise  know  that  for  an  act  of  this  kind,  when  he  gets  ashore, 
he'll  be  hung  up  by  the  neck,  and  left  to  dangle  there  till  his 
bones  blow  away.  Now,  as  he's  a  murderer,  it's  my  duty  to  put 
him  in  irons,  and  keep  him  under  hatches  till  I'm  able  to  hand 
him  over  to  the  people  employed  by  the  law  to  sentence  and 
strangle  him,  and  all  such  folks  as  he.  D'ye  see,  men  ? '  with  a 
powerful  flourish  of  his  arm,  and  a  slight  increase  of  bluster,  as 
though  he  was  gaining  in  spirit  from  the  air  of  attention  with 
which  the  sailors  seemed  to  listen  to  him.  '  We  don't  want  no 
difficulties.  Aboard  me  everything  has  always  been  plain  sail- 
ing, and  up  to  the  knocker.  My  mate  lies  a  dead  man,  and  I 
want  the  chap  as  killed  him.' 

He  paused,  running  his  eye  over  them.  Two  or  three  of  the 
crew  gave  their  heads  a  quick  shake,  but  none  of  them  spoke. 

*The  man,'  proceeded  Broadwater,  'is  lying  snugged  away  in 

a 


82  MAROONED 

the  foVsle.  Now,  look  ye  here,  my  lads.  There  need  be  no 
trouble  about  it  at  all.  All  that  you've  got  to  do  is  just  to 
remain  where  you  are,  whilst  me  and  the  second  mate  fetches 
him — seeing  that  he  won't  come  under  milder  persuasions.' 

I  thought  by  the  manner  of  the  men  that  they  hung  in  the 
wind,  and  would  let  the  captain  have  his  way.  He  must  have 
fancied  this  also,  for  he  started  to  walk  to  the  forecastle  with  a 
gesture  of  his  hand  to  the  boatswain ;  but,  ere  he  could  get  one 
leg  fair  before  the  other,  a  tall,  powerfully -built  seaman  flung 
liimself  with  a  stride  or  two  upon  the  line  of  deck  which  the 
captain  was  about  to  measure,  and  cried  out,  'Stop,  sirl  no 
f  urder !  We  don't  mean  to  let  you  have  the  man.' 

If  Broadwater  had  been  shot  through  the  heart,  the  arrest  of 
his  movements  could  not  have  been  more  spasmodic  and  utter. 
Rage  once  again  rendered  him  speechless,  and  the  rush  of  blood 
to  his  head  darkened  his  purple  countenance  into  an  almost 
livid  complexion.  Half-a-dozen  sailors  thrust  up  and  formed 
about  the  man  who  had  spoken.  Their  looks  were  so  threatening, 
that  I  dreaded  in  Broadwater  the  least  gesture^fctikt  might  be 
mistaken  as  combative  by  the  fellows.  The  boatswain  came  to 
the  side  of  the  old  man,  who,  gasping  for  breath,  and  as  voiceless 
as  a  person  in  a  fit,  fell  back  step  by  step  till  he  had  put  some 
half-dozen  yards  between  him  and  the  crew,  by  which  time  he 
had  recovered  his  voice ;  but  I  protest,  had  I  not  looked  at  him 
and  observed  his  lips  to  move,  that  I  should  not  have  known 
him  by  his  tones.  He  raised  his  arm,  and  shook  his  clenched 
fist  at  the  tall  sailor. 

'  Your  name's  Terence  Mole,'  he  said.  '  If  it  should  cost  me 
every  shilling  I'm  worth  so  to  punish  ye  for  this  here  job  as  to 
keep  ye  cursing  your  mother's  memory  day  and  night  for  ever 
having  bore  you,  I'll  spend  it !  If,  to  have  ye  punished  for  this, 
it  should  oblige  me  to  tear  the  shirt  off  my  back  and  pawn  it 
for  more  law  yet  to  crush  you  with,  I'd  do  it,  and  go  naked  for 
the  rest  of  my  time,  and  die  easy  !  You  scoundrel ! ' 

He  fell  speechless  again,  with  another  mad  brandishing  of  his 
arms  towards  the  tall  sailor.  The  man  watched  him  with  a  cold, 
insolent  grin.  One  of  the  crew  exclaimed,  '  Soft  words,  master, 
soft  words.  Ye  want  that  there  man  Charles,  and  we  don't 
mean  to  let  ye  have  him.' 

The  boatswain,  with  a  glance  at  the  captain,  turned  upon  the 
crew.  '  Lads,'  he  exclaimed, '  consider  what  you're  a-doing  of !  In 
protecting  this  here  murderer  you're  making  yourselves  parties 
to  his  crime }  and  though  I  don't  know  mucli  about  shore-going 
law,  I  can't  question  that  your  abetting  of  the  villain  mav  end 
in  stringing  most  of  ye  up  alongside  of  him  ;  whilst  it  should 
sinnify  transportation  for  life  to  the  rest  of  ye.' 

'  Mr.  Gordon,'  answered  the  tall  seaman  Mole, '  we've  tamed  the 
matter  over,  and  we've  made  up  our  minds  not  to  let  the  man 
Charles  suffer.'leastways  aboara  this  brig,  for  his  act.  He's  rid 
u»  of  a  devil,  he  pronounced  the  word  with  a  sudden  snap  of 


MUTINY  83 

the  teeth,  'and  if  he  hadn't  done  it  some  one  else  would ;  though 
it  was  for  him,  by  rights,  to  make  a  beginning,  seeing  how  he 
was  sarved,'  he  pointed  with  a  dark  thumb  in  the  direction  of 
the  foremast,  '  merely  for  commiserating  the  fate  of  a  dro wnded 
shipmate.  If  the  capt'n's  flesh  an'  blood,  so  are  we.  "We're 
willing  enough  to  listen  to  reason,  but  so  long  as  we  continue 
to  be  the  crew  of  this  here  brig,  Charles  don't  go  into  irons ;  nor 
shall  we  allow  him  to  be  punished  in  any  other  way.' 

With  that  he  folded  his  arms,  rearing  his  figure  erect,  and 
angrily  staring  at  the  captain.  The  boatswain  turned  to  Broad- 
water  as  much  as  to  say,  'Speak,  sir,  speak.  You  hear  what 
.  the  man  says.'  The  old  fellow  swung  on  liis  heel  and  walked 
aft,  and  stood  with  his  hands  behind  him  gazing  seawards. 
The  men  fell  to  talking  among  themselves,  and  there  was  a 
laugh  or  two,  but  the  hilarity  had  a  very  false  ring,  and  was 
instantly  checked  by  a  growling,  '  Dowse  it,  you  fool,  dowse  it ! ' 
I  observed  some  of  the  seamen  regarding  me,  but  I  pretty  well 
understood  that  by  this  'time  they  knew  that  whatever  might 
be  my  sympathies  they  assuredly  did  not  incline  towards  the 
cabin  end  of  the  ship.  Besides,  I  had  a  right  to  listen  and  look 
on  at  all  events,  and  leaning  against  the  rail,  with  my  hands 
in  my  pockets,  I  kept  my  eyes  fixed  on  them,  unmoved  by  their 
gaze. 

Although  Broadwater  scarcely  remained  a  minute  abaft  the 
wheel,  the  time  seemed  so  long  that  I  believed  that  he  intended 
the  men  should  break  up  and  go  forward  of  their  own  accord, 
without  giving  himself  the  trouble  of  dismissing  them.  But  I 
was  mistaken.  He  suddenly  wheeled  round  and  came  along  at 
a  rapid  pace,  abruptly  stopping,  however,  at  some  distance  from 
the  crew. 

'It's  your  intention,  then/  he  shouted,  'not  to  allow  me  to 
clap  this  murderer  in  irons  and  lock  him  up  1 ' 

'You  heard  what  was  said,'  one  of  them  exclaimed. 

'  Mr.  Gordon  ! '  he  suddenly  roared,  '  f orrards  with  us  both  I 
By  the  thunder  of  heaven,  we'll  have  a  try  for  the  bloody  villain, 
let  follow  what  will ! ' 

I  saw  him  tweak  at  the  band  of  his  trousers  with  the  motion 
of  a  man  who  girds  himself  for  an  affray,  then  make  a  spring. 
The  men  closed  in  a  wall  before  him.  He  struck  at  them,  but  I 
could  not  see  that  his  blows  were  returned ;  they  did  no  more 
than  to  press  upon  him  and  drive  him  backwards.  Gordon 
threw  his  arms  around  the  old  fellow's  waist  to  drag  him  away. 
Sickened  and  horrified  by  the  scene,  I  ran  to  assist  the  boat- 
swain, dreading  lest  one  of  the  many  blows  which  the  old  fellow 
was  raining  might  lead  to  a  general  onslaught  on  him,  and 
grasped  his  right  arm,  and  in  a  few  moments  we  had  hauled 
him  clear  of  the  crew,  at  whom  the  boatswain  continued  shout- 
ing, as  together  we  pulled  the  skipper  aft,  '  For  God's  sake,  go 
forward,  men  1  for  God's  sake,  go  forward  1 ' 

0  2 


64  MAROONED 


CHAPTER 

BROADWATER  PROVES  OBSTINATE 

WE  got  Broadwater,  wheezing,  panting,  and  gasping,  to  tbw 
cabin  skylight,  upon  which  we  forced  him  to  sit,  not  a  little 
blown  ourselves  by  our  uncommon  exertions  ;  by  which  time 
the  crew  had  broken  up  as  advised  by  the  boatswain,  and  were 
going  forward  in  twos  and  threes  quietly  enough.  Broadwater 
sat  for  some  minutes  without  offering  to  speak  ;  when  he  had  got 
his  breath  again,  he  flung  off  the  skylight  and  ran  below  with 
the  swiftness  and  gestures  of  a  madman. 

'This  is  a  bad  business  —  a  bad  business,  sir,'  said  Gordon, 
speaking  in  a  voice  full  of  concern. 

'The  deuce  of  it  is,'  I  exclaimedf*the  captain  has  not  the 
least  idea  how  to  act.  The  men  are  wildly  to  blame  —  no  doubt 
of  that  ;  it  is  monstrous  that  British  seamen  should  sympathize 
with  a  murderer  and  a  foreigner  ;  but  I  am  certain,  from  signs 
of  a  disposition  I  took  notice  of  in  them  as  they  stood  together 
yonder,  that  were  the  master  of  this  vessel  any  other  man  than 
liroadwaterj  the  sailors  might  easily  be  brought  over.' 

4  1  know  it,  sir  —  I  know  it,'  he  cried  bitterly.  '  They  began 
welL  Had  they  been  properly  used  thev  would  have  gone  on 
and  ended  well.  But  though  the  man  s  dead  I  don't  mind 
saying,  Mr.  Musgrave,  that  a  crueller  mate  never  walked  a 
ship's  deck  than  Mr.  Both  well.  'T  wasn't  only  the  words  he'd 
use,  'twas  the  insulting  tone  of  them  —  like  coating  with  poison 
the  knife  you  stab  with.  The  brutal  tarms  cut  to  the  men's 
hearts,  and  lay  festering  there,  sir,  with  the  recollection  of  the 
fellows  voice  and  looks.  Ye  onderstand  me?  It  rose  above 
the  half-blood's  restraint.  A  horrid  murder,  Mr.  Musgrave,  but 
it  don't  surprise  me.' 

*  What  will  Broadwater  do  t  ' 

He  threw  a  glance  down  the  skylight  and  exclaimed,  'I'm 
afraid  whatever  he  does  '11  be  wrong.' 

'  But  what  would  you  advise,  Mr.  Gordon  ?  There  is  a  lady 
below,  remember  :  I  am  responsible  for  her  safety  ;  if  for  her 
sake  only,  this  trouble  should  be  speedily  ended  by  some  decisive 
course  or  action.' 

'  Why,  sir,  seeing  how  matters  stand,'  he  answered,  '  the  mate 
dead  —  -has  murderer  screened  by  the  men  —  the  crew  in  a  state  of 
mutiny,  —  the  captain  ought  to  head  fair  for  Madeira  —  'tis  the 
nearest  point,  where  no  doubt  he'd  get  help  from  the  shore,  if  so 
be  there  was  no  English  or  foreign  man-of-war  riding  there.' 

'  Certainly,'  I  cried  ;  '  that  should  be  his  plan  !  There  is  no 
man  forward,  I  suppose,  capable  of  guessing  the  captain's 
intentions  by  a  change  of  course  ?  ' 

*The  change  would  be  too  small  to  take  their  notice,'  he 
responded.  'But  suppose  they  did  guess  what  he  was  at,  they'd 


BROADWATER  PROVES  OBSTINATE  85 

make  no  difficulty  about  it — at  least  whilst  their  feelings  remain 
as  they  are  now.  They  hate  the  vessel,  and  'ud  be  glad  of  a 
chance  to  get  away  from  her,  though  the  road  to  their  liberty  lay 
through  a  jail.' 

'  Have  you  suggested  this  notion  to  the  captain  ? ' 

1 1  told  him,'  ne  answered, '  when  him  and  me  were  talking 
before  sunrise  about  the  mate's  murder,  that  if  the  men  con- 
tinued to  give  trouble,  or  broke  out  into  regular  mutiny,  there'd 
be  certainly  nothing  for  it  but  to  head  for  Madeira.' 

'What  did  he  say?' 

'  Cursed  and  swore,  sir.  "  Sooner  than  be  driven  to  Madeira 
by  my  crew,"  he  says,  "  I'd  cut  away  the  brig's  masts  and  let  her 
lie  where  she  is,"  he  says,  "  till  she  s  growed  unrecognizable  for 
barnacles ! "  But,'  he  added,  '  now  that  he's  seen  the  sort  of 
attitude  the  men  have  put  themselves  into  he  may  change  his 
ideas  and  agree  with  me.' 

*  Was  there  ever  such  a  bigoted  old  fool 1 '  I  cried.  '  Did  ever 
one  hear  of  so  rum-soddened  a  dolt  placed  in  such  a  confoundedly 
responsible  position  as  that  of  master  of  a  ship  before  ?  I  only 
wish  he  were  as  ignorant  of  navigation  as  he  is  of  human  nature 
and  the  art  of  treating  sailors ;  I'd  run  him  then,  myself,  to 
Madeira,  and  he  shouldn't  know  where  he  was  bound  to  until 
the  island  was  hove  up  green  over  the  bow.  What  is  the  stupid 
idiot  to  do  if  the  hands,  barring  yourself,  are  against  him  ? '  I 
continued  talking  hotly,  out  of  the  fit  of  nervous  irritability  that 
had  seized  me.  'Arid  what  does  he  mean  by  saying  that  he 
would  sooner  cut  away  his  masts  than  haul  in  for  the  island 
and  the  protection  it  would  afford  him  ?  Confound  the  fellow  ! 
Does  he  suppose  that  the  lady  and  I  parted  with  our  money  for 
the  privilege  of  shipping  in  a  sheer  hulk  ? ' 

4  Well,  sir,'  said  Gordon,  '  I  dessay  if  ye  put  it  to  him  warmly 
he'll  listen  to  ye.  If  not  to  you,  to  nobody  else  for  sartin,  sir. 
There's  too  much  feeding  mixed  up  with  the  brains  in  his  head  ; 
and  the  machinery's  got  clogged  and  don't  travel  properly,  spite 
of  his  being  incessantly  greasing  of  it  with  liquor.  And  what's 
he  going  to  do  about  the  watches,  I  wonder  ?  Why,  it  must  be 
drawing  on  for  six  o'clock,  and  here  have  I  been  on  deck  since 
midnight.'  He  dodged  about  the  skylight  in  his  efforts  to 
command  a  view  of  the  cabin,  to  see  if  the  captain  were  there. 
'There's  ne'er  a  man  more  willing  to  do  his  bit  than  me,'  he  said, 
'but  it  ain't  in  flesh  and  blood  to  keep  all  on  watching  and 
nothen  else.' 

'  If  he  likes  to  make  you  his  chief  mate,  and  me  his  second,' 
said  I,  'I  shall  be  quite  willing  to  fill  the  berth,  and  take  watcli 
and  watch  with  you.  I  shouldn't  set  myself  up  as  your  match, 
Gordon,  of  course ;  but  if  I  couldn't  trim  sail  with  old  Broad- 
water,  or  take  sights,  or  note  a  change  of  wind,  or  mark  th« 
head  of  a  growing  squall,  with  him,  he  shall  tell  me  I  can't 
distinguish  the  difference  between  the  sheet  of  his  trysail  and 
the. banks  of  bis  standing  jib,' 


86  MAEOONED 

'Put  it  to  him,  sir  ;  put  it  to  him,'  cried  the  boatswain,  rubbing 
his  hands  with  a  small  emotion  of  glee  in  his  worried  face.  'I 
tell  you  what,  sir,  if  the  capt'n  'ud  make  you  hacting  second 
mate — unbecoming  as  such  a  post  would  be  for  a  gentleman 
like  you  to  occupy — I  allow  that  the  appointment  'ud  go  further 
to  reconcile  the  men  to  the  brig,  and  to  the  voyage,  than  all  the 
excuses  the  capt'n  could  make  for  himself,  and  all  the  wisest  sort 
of  kindness  he'd  be  capable  of  showing  'em.  Of  course  they 
know  that  you  have  been  a  sailor,  sir.' 

'How?' I  asked. 

'  Why/  he  replied, '  I  told  them.  Next,  they're  aware  that  the 
man  Charles  was  saved  from  spending  the  night  lashed  to  the 
foremast  by  yours  and  the  lady's  entreaties  and  threats  to  leave 
the  ship.  That  bit  of  news  was  brought  forrards  by  Billy  the 
cabin-boy  ;  likewise  by  the  chapj^hose  trick  it  was  at  the  wheel 
when  the  lady  spoke  to  the  capt'n  about  the  half-blood.  Depend 
upon  it,  sir,' he  added  emphatically,  'that  if  you  should  be  made 
second  mate,  or,  better  still,  chief  mate,  the  men  'ud  feel  so 
satisfied  to  know  they'd  got  a  gentleman  to  officer  them^  that 
I'm  confident  they'd  give  no  further  trouble  this  side  or  Rio. 
Will  you  put  it  to  the  capt'n.  sir  ? ' 

'  Certainly  I  will,'  I  replied,  struck  by  the  poor  fellow's  eager- 
ness, though  my  fancy  hung  much  less  in  this  direction  than  in 
a  desire  to  urge  Broadwater  to  make  promptly  for  Madeira. 

I  left  the  honest  creature  and  went  below,  pretty  shrewdly 
guessing  that  Miss  Grant  lay  all  this  while  sleepless  in  her  cabin, 
and  was  in  bad  need  of  the  encouragement  of  a  chat.  I  also 
wished  to  meet  Broadwater,  that  I  might  tackle  him  whilst  I 
was  in  the  mood  to  pitch  my  key  to  any  sort  of  note  that  he 
might  choose  to  strike.  Billy  the  cabin-boy,  with  his  lank,  yellow 
hair  dangling  over  his  eyes,  was  on  his  knees  working  with  a 
deck-scraper  at  the  dark  and  ugly  stain  at  the  foot  of  the 
companion-steps  ;  but  blood  lies  upon  wood  as  upon  the  human 
conscience ;  its  sacred  magic,  its  preternatural  quality  of  staining, 
is  no  more  to  be  neutralized  in  timber  by  the  scraper,  than  in 
the  murderer's  mind  by  the  parson.  'Twas  a  mallet  and  chisel 
that  the  lad  needed,  and  even  at  that  the  cleansing  of  the  plank 
might  have  ended  in  a  hole  in  the  deck,  gaping  to  the  uttermost 
outline  of  the  horrid  blot.  I  felt  a  little  creeping  in  my  skin 
as  I  passed  the  boy,  but  then  I  was  desperately  bothered,  and 
the  eyes  of  my  imagination  were  out  of  gear,  so  that  little  things 
put  on  ugly  forms,  and  through  distortion  of  aspect  were  cruelly 
suggestive  and  abominably  significant. 

I  listened  a  moment  at  Miss  Grant's  cabin  door,  and  very 
softly  knocked,  by  no  means  desiring  to  disturb  her  should  she 
be  asleep.  She  instantly  asked  who  it  was  that  knocked;  I 
answered,  and  she  came  out.  She  was  fully  dressed,  robed  in 
jacket  and  hat  for  the  deck. 

'  I  am  glad  you  have  come  to  me,'  she  exclaimed ; '  but  you  see 
I  have  dutifully  obeyed  your  orders.  \  woujd  not  even  enter  the 


BROADWATER  PROVES  OBSTINATE  87 

cabin,  though  you  will  imagine  how  dull,  expectant,  miserable,  I 
felt  alone — listening,  waiting,  dreading  I  cannot  tell  you  what 
— in  this  gloomy  little  box.' 

I  took  her  hand  and  conducted  her  to  the  cabin,  and  she 
seemed  to  lift  her  head  like  a  drooping  lily  to  the  refreshment 
of  water  as  she  entered  an  atmosphere  bright  with  the  sparkling 
of  the  sun  flowing  full  upon  the  skylight,  and  crawling  in  sheets 
of  gold  upon  the  bulkheads  and  deck.  She  looked  with  atten- 
tion at  the  lad  at  work  under  the  hatch,  as  though  she  wondered 
what  he  was  doing  ;  then,  understanding,  she  partly  turned  her 
back  upon  him,  with  a  manner  that  was  like  dismissing  the 
perception  of  the  meaning  of  the  fellow's  labour  from  her 
memory. 

'  What  have  you  got  to  tell  me  ? '  she  asked,  seating  herself, 
and  resting  her  chin  in  the  palms  of  her  hands,  whilst  she  gazea 
at  me  from  under  the  shadow  of  her  broad  straw  hat  with  such 
a  spirit  of  resolution  in  her  eyes,  that  I  saw  she  had  prepared 
herself  for  the  darkest  disclosures. 

I  related  exactly  all  that  had  happened  during  the  time  I 
had  been  on  deck,  and  was  in  the  midst  of  repeating  my  recent 
conversation  with  the  boatswain  when  she  slightly  coughed, 
with  a  significant  glance  past  me.  I  looked,  and  saw  Broad  water 
coming  from  his  cabin.  He  stood  near  the  boy  a  moment  or 
two  watching  him,  then  gave  the  lad  a  kick  that  threw  him  on 
to  his  face. 

'  Away  with  ye ! '  he  cried.  '  Scraping,  indeed  !  It's  bottle- 
washing  that's  in  your  line,  you  young  scaramouch  !  Off  with 
ye  for  a  broom,  and  collect  these  here  shavings,  and  tell  the  cook 
to  get  the  cabin  breakfast  ready  by  six  bells.' 

The  boy  picked  himself  up,  and  mounted  the  ladder.  Broad- 
water  turning  to  me  said,  An  all-night  job  regularly  sets  me 
pining  for  food,  long  afore  I  should  reel  the  need  of  it  after  a 
proper  allowance  of  sleep.'  I  thought  to  myself,  Shall  I  begin 
with  the  fellow  at  once,  or  wait  till  he  has  broken  his  fast  ?  A 
meal  might  make  him  more  sensible,  render  him  more  tractable  ; 
but  my  present  mood  was  an  opportunity  I  ought  not  to  miss  ; 
and  then  time  was  exceedingly  precious.  So  I  began. 

'  Captain  Broad  water,  unless  you  are  going  on  deck  to  relieve 
the  boatswain,  who  has  had  charge  since  midnight 


discipline  of  the  vessel  is  your  affair,  this  lady's  safety  is  mine  ! 
So  now,  sir,  give  me  your  attention,  for  you  will  find  that  I  am 
more  in  earnest  than  even  the  most  rebellious  of  your  men 
forward.'  He  did  not  offer  to  sit,  but  contented  himself  with 
watching  me.  *  First,'  I  went  on, '  what  do  you  mean  to  do  ? ' 

'  Wait  sir,  and  you'll  see.' 

'N<>i'  I  cried,  bringing  my  hand  down  with  a  sounding  whack 


88  MAIIOONED 

upon  my  thigh ;  *  that  answer  will  not  satisfy  me,  Captain 
Broadwater.  The  crew  are  in  a  state  of  mutiny  ;  your  mate  lies 
murdered  ;  the  only  living  creature  aboard  that  you  can  depend 
on  is  your  bo'sun,  and  even  he  may  fail  you — honest  to  the 
bottom  of  his  soul  as  I  know  him  to  be — for  ne  is  no  more  than  a 
foremast  hand,  though  he  holds  a  responsible  position  under  you. 
Now  listen,  sir.  As  matters  stand,  this  lady  and  I  are  in  peril 
of  our  lives.  Your  duty  is  not  only  to  give  us  every  encourage- 
ment, but  to  make  haste  to  obtain  such  assistance  as  shall 
deliver  us,  as  well  as  yourself  and  vessel,  from  the  heavy  dangers 
which  threaten  us.  Therefore,  I  demand  to  know  what  you 
mean  to  do  1 ' 

He  eyed  me  with  the  same  kind  of  dog^edness  I  had  noticed 
in  some  of  his  men  when  Ji»^vas  addressing  them ;  was  silent 
for  a  space  after  I  had  ceased,  and  then  said,  '  What  was  your 
object  in  hiring  cabins  in  this  brig  ? ' 

'  The  passage  to  Rio.' 

'  Right !  And  I'm  carrying  you  to  Rio.  That's  the  part  you 
paid  my  owner  for  me  to  perform,  and  I'll  do  it.' 

'  But,'  I  cried,  '  how  is  it  possible  that  you  can  carry  your 
vessel  to  Rio  with  a  crew  who  have  already  distinctly  mutinied 
by  refusing  to  surrender  your  mate's  murderer  to  you  ? ' 

'  The  Lord  spare  me ! '  he  roared  out.  '  If  I  ain't  bound  to  Rio 
where  else  am  I  a-going  ? ' 

'See  here,'  said  I,  determined  to  make  him  understand  by 
my  manner  that  I  was  in  earnest,  '  you  must  be  perfectly  well 
aware  that  as  matters  are  you  will  never  succeed  in  carrying 
your  ship  to  Rio.  A  moment,  if  you  please !  The  crew  have 
rebelled  to  a  man,  and  have  defied  you.  You  know  it !  The 
respect  you  might  have  obtained  you  have  forfeited,  and  they 
laugh  at  your  commands.  You  know  that  too  !  Bv  protecting 
the  half -blood  they  share  in  his  crime,  and  every  fellow  in  your 
forecastle  is  therefore  an  assassin  at  heart.  And  you  mean  to 
tell  me  that,  all  this  being  as  I  say,  you  will  be  able  to  complete 
a  voyage  which  may  run  us  into  two  or  three  months,  but  which 
is  as  yet  but  a  week  old  only  1 ' 

'  Certainly  ! '  he  cried ;  *  we're  bound  to  Rio,  and  I  mean  to  keep 
all  on  till  we  get  there.' 

'If  that  be  so,'  said  I,  vehemently,  'this  lady  and  I  decline  to 
proceed  with  you.' 

'  Decline  to  proceed  1 '  he  shouted,  evidently  misunderstanding 
me. 

'Yes,  sir!'  I  answered,  shouting  too.  'We  insist  upon  your 
steering  the  brig  for  the  island  of  Madeira.  The  place  is  within 
a  few  days'  sail.  I  don't  doubt  that  the  crew  would  cheerfully 
help  you  to  navigate  the  vessel  there.  They  loathe  the  brig  as 
much  as  they  dislike  you,  and  would  exult  in  their  release,  even 
if  it  came  to  their  going  ashore  in  irons.  Therefore,  Captain 
Uroadwater,  as  you  are  in  no  condition  to  continue  the  voyage 
to  Rio,  I  must  insist,  by  virtue  of  my  rights  as  a  passenger, 


BEOADWATEE  PEOVES  OBSTINATE  89 

and  of  the  claim  that  this  lady  has  upon  my  protection,  that  you 
shape  your  course  without  any  further  loss  of  time  for  Madeira.' 

He  breathed  hard,  then  raised  his  fist  and  brought  it  dowu 
with  a  mighty  whack  upon  the  table.  His  face  was  dark  with 
passion,  his  little  eyes  reeled  as  they  took  me  in  from  head  to  foot. 
'  Sooner  than  do  what  you  say,'  he  muttered  rather  than  spoke, 
'I'd  scuttle  the  ship  with  these  hands,'  lifting  them  both,  'and 
send  every  man-jack  of  us  aboard  to  the  devil.'  He  backed 
away,  as  though  he  meant  to  walk  crab-fashion  to  the  com- 
panion-ladder, and  on  a  sudden  shouted  out,  'You've  been 
a-talking  with  the  bo'sun,  Mr.  Musgrave  ! ' 

-  'And  what  of  that? '  I  responded,  in  a  voice  that  gave  him  to 
know  I  had  lungs  enough  to  outshout  him  even,  if  occasion 
should  render  such  a  contest  needful.  '  Am  I  to  understand  that 
you  refuse  to  head  the  ship  for  Madeira,  that  Miss  Grant  and  I 
may  go  ashore  there,  and  escape  the  barbarous  perils  which 
your  treatment  of  the  crew  is  certain  to  plunge  us  into  if  you 
persist  in  continuing  this  voyage  ?  ' 

'  Yes,'  he  roared,  '  you  are  to  understand  it ! — you  are  to  under- 
stand it  a  hundred  times  over !  My  instructions  are  to  carry 
this  ship  to  Piio,  and  sooner  than  deviate  I'll  scuttle  her  ! '  and 
flinging  his  fist  at  me,  so  to  speak,  with  a  loud  snap  of  his 
fingers,  he  went  with  a  heavy  lurching  tramp  up  the  ladder, 
growling  out  fifty  curses  in  an  undertone  that  reminded  me  of 
a  dog  gnawing  a  bone,  watched  by  another. 

I  looked  at  Miss  Grant.  '  Of  all  pig-headed  varlets !  Where,' 
cried  I,  '  could  have  been  my  eyes,  that  I  was  unable  to  decipher 
the  old  lobster's  true  nature  under  his  complicated  purple  skin 
when  I  first  met  him  ?' 

'  We  are  confronted  with  a  difficulty,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  she  said 
quietly,  mechanically  twisting  a  ring  upon  her  finger,  with 
thouorhtful  eyes  fixed  upon  it,  '  and  we  must  look  at  it  calmly, 
and  be  patient,  and  consider  what  is  best  to  be  done.  First  of 
all,'  she  continued,  '  I  am  quite  certain,  from  the  man's  manner, 
that  you  will  never  induce  him  to  alter  his  course  for  Madeira. 
And  then  what  follows?  Perhaps  now  that  the  mate  is  dead 
the  crew  will  cease  to  prove  troublesome.  Mr.  Gordon  is  a  quiet 
man,  and  the  sailors  appear  to  like  him.  Mr.  Musgrave,  I 
believe  if  this  horrid  old  captain  could  only  be  induced  by 
threats  or  persuasions  to  use  his  men  kindly,  the  voyage  might 
be  safely  continued.' 

But,  unhappily,  peace  of  mind  was  not  to  be  obtained  by  con- 
templation of  merely  theoretic  conditions,  though  I  heartily 
admired  her  cool  inspection  of  a  difficulty  that  surely  could  not 
have  held  less  terrors  for  her  than  for  any  other  woman  without 
her  heart  to  oppose  it.  If  Broadwater  was  to  be  terrified  into 
changing  his  nature,  then  no  doubt  we  might  reckon  upon  a 
comfortable  and  pleasant  passage.  But  the  old  swaggerer's 
qualities  clung  like  limpets  to  his  soul.  He  was  not  to  be 
cleansed  by  any  process  I  was  master  of,  at  all  events.  The 


90  MAKOONED 

only  hope  that  I  wuld  find  lay  in  Miss  Grant's  suggestion  that, 
the  mate  being  dead,  the  sailors'  grievances  would  be  diminished 
to  the  extent  of  the  bitter  usage  he  had  given  them.  But  the 
scene  on  deck  that  morning  had  been  too  significant  not  to  fill 
me  with  dark  and  melancholy  misgivings,  which  were  accentu- 
ated yet  by  the  feeling  that,  let  me  talk  as  hotly  as  I  would  and 
threaten  as  clamorously  as  I  chose,  I  was  practically  powerless. 
I  had  felt  this  in  the  Channel,  and  I  felt  it  more  violently  now 
that  we  were  far  out  upon  the  surface  of  the  broad  Atlantic,  at 
the  disposal  of  a  man  whose  resolutions  there  were  no  means  of 
thwarting,  so  far  as  I  was  concerned,  unless  indeed  I  sided  with 
the  men,  encouraged  them  to  deprive  him  of  the  command  of 
the  brig,  and  sailed  her  myself  back  to  England  or  to  the 
nearest  port,  leaving  the  vindication  of  my  behaviour  to  the 
story  of  cruelty  and  peril  it  would  be  in  my  power  to  relate — a 
romantic  project  indeed,  and  to  be  instantly  dismissed ! 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  SAILOR'S  LAST  TOSS 

I  REMAINED  with  Miss  Grant  in  the  cabin  until  breakfast  was 
served.  Our  talk  referred  to  nothing  but  our  situation,  as  you 
will  suppose.  Before  long  I  found  my  worry  and  anxiety  yield- 
ing to  the  influence  of  her  calm  yet  animated  gaze  and  clear 
good  sense.  Indeed  there  is  no  kind  of  human  encouragement 
that  equals  the  feeling  a  woman  can  inspire.  The  moral  help  a 
man  will  get  from  the  posture  and  language  of  a  brave  girl  is  so 
invigorating  that  it  will  give  his  heart  a  new  spirit,  though 
there  be  the  pulse  of  a  lion  in  its  beat. 

Whilst  we  conversed  I  heard  Broadwater  talking  on  deck, 
end  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  he  were  delivering  a  harangue ;  but  I 
gave  it  little  heed,  being  heartily  sick  of  him  and  the  mutinous 
disturbances  raised  by  his  base  old  tongue.  There  was  a  sound 
of  scrubbing-brushes  gritting  along  upon  the  deck  overhead, 
with  a  noise  of  pumping  and  of  water  washing  about  in  the 
scuppers — assurance,  at  all  events,  that  the  crew  were  doing 
the  ship's  work.  This  I  bade  Miss  Grant  take  notice  of,  being 
now  rendered  almost  hopeful  by  the  fine  cordial  influence  of  her 
intelligent  thoughts  and  by  the  inspiriting  power  of  her  smiles, 
her  sparkling  regard,  the  music  of  her  voice,  the  resolution  of 
soul  that  held  her  beauty  as  composed  as  if  she  slumbered. 

Punctually  at  six  bells — seven  o'clock — the  cabin-boy  arrived 
with  the  breakfast,  and  almost  immediately  afterwards  Broad- 
water made  his  appearance.  I  had  got  my  cue  from  Miss  Grant, 
who  had  urged  me  not  to  question  the  man,  and  above  all  in 
conversing  with  him  never  to  lose  my  temper  :  so  that  we  had 
nearly  finished  the  repast  before  a  single  wora  was  uttered  by 


THE  SAILOR'S  LAST  TOSS  91 

any  of  the  three  of  us.  The  captain  gobbled  as  heartily  as  if  all 
had  been  well  with  the  ship.  In  truth,  his  jaws  were  so  inces- 
santly occupied  that  they  gave  him  no  chance  to  utter  a  syllable. 
Then,  having  somewhat  appeased  his  appetite,  he  called  for 
another  great  cup  of  black  tea,  which  he  fell  to  stirring  medita- 
tively, with  an  occasional  lift  of  his  little  eyes  to  mine. 

'  I  hope,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  said  he,  forcing  an  odd  note  of  rough 
jocosity  into  his  deep  sea-tones,  '  that  you've  sent  that  there 
Madeiry  scheme  of  yours  adrift.  Why,  rn'am,'  he  continued, 
turning  to  Miss  Grant,  '  if  so  be  as  I'm  given  to  onderstand  that 
Bio's  your  home — and  Mr.  Grant  was  a  gentleman  whose  name 
"is  very  well  beknown  to  me,  very  well  beknown  to  me  indeed — 
if  so  be,  I  says,  that  Eio's  your  home,  surely,  m'am,  you  must  be 
in  a  hurry  to  get  there,  and  wouldn't  thank  me  for  carrying  out 
Mr.  Musgrave's  proposal  to  delay  the  voyage  by  calling  at 
Madeiry. 

4  Certainly  I  am  impatient  to  get  to  Rio,  Captain  Broadwater,' 
she  answered,  with  a  half  glance  at  me,  following  on  the  faintest 
possible  blush  rising  to  her  cheeks,  and  quickly  vanishing,  as 
though  it  were  the  shadow  of  a  rose  lifted  to  her  face  and 
dropped  again.  '  But  then  it  is  my  impatience  that  wants  me  to 
make  sure  of  getting  there.' 

He  drained  his  cup  and  cried, '  Never  doubt  it,  mum.  Give 
me  wind  enough  to  blow  us  along,  the  rest  '11  be  as  easy  as 
swallowing  whilks.' 

This  new  manner  of  confidence  in  him  made  me  say,  'The 
behaviour  of  the  crew,  I  hope,  has  improved  since  sunrise?' 

'  Mr.  Musgrave,'  he  exclaimed,  rising,  '  I  have  to  beg  and  pray 
of  you,  sir,  that  you'll  allow  the  behaviour  of  the  crew  to  be  my 
business.  Judging  from  the  observations  you  let  fall  this 
morning,  it's  middling  plain  to  me  that  all  that  you  want  is  to 
feel  sure  that  you  and  the  lady  '11  arrive  at  Rio.  Ontil,  then, 
you've  got  good  cause  to  be  alarmed,  you've  got  no  right  to  tell 
me  what  my  duty  is,  how  I'm  to  treat  my  crew,  and  what  port 
it's  my  business  to  head  for ! '  saying  which,  he  picked  up  his 
cap,  and  buttoning  his  coat  around  him,  with  a  ludicrous  expres- 
sion of  mingled  dignity  and  self-complacency,  he  went  on  deck. 

A  couple  of  minutes  later,  not  a  little  to  my  surprise,  Gordon 
came  down  the  companion-steps,  and  stood  a  moment  at  the 
bottom  of  them,  looking  shyly  at  the  table,  cap  in  hand.  He 
tweaked  an  imaginary  lock  of  hair  on  his  forehead  at  Miss 
Grant,  and  exclaimed,  with  a  nervous  laugh,  '  Rather  a  novelty 
for  me,  Mr.  Musgrave,  sir,  to  breakfast  long  with  ladies  and 
gents  in  the  land  p'  knives  and  forks  ;  but  it's  the  capt'n's  orders. 
He's  made  rne  chief  mate,  and  I'm  to  live  down  here  and  take 
Mr.  Bothwell's  cabin — when  he's  out  of  it,'  with  a  look  at  the 
stain  at  his  feet. 

'  We  are  glad  to  welcome  you  aft,  Gordon,  believe  me  I '  I 
cried.  'Take  that  seat.  Here's  the  teapot.  I  don't  think 
Broadwater  has  emptied  it.' 


02  MAROONED 

He  sat  down  and  fell  to  his  breakfast,  and  I  cannot  expreai 
to  you  what  a  new  element  of  cheerfulness  came  into  the  atmo- 
sphere of  that  rude  old  interior  out  of  this  sailor^  plain,  hearty, 
honest  face  and  bearing.  I  was  extremely  anxious  to  get  the 
news,  for  the  captain  had  told  me  nothing,  and  asked  Him  if 
anything  fresh  had  happened  on  deck  since  I  came  below.  He 
replied,  subduing  his  voice,  with  a  heave  up  of  his  eyes  at  the 
skylight,  till  nothing  but  the  whites  of  them  showed,  that  the 
captain  had  called  the  men  aft  and  made  them  a  speech,  in 
which  he  told  them  that,  if  they  agreed  to  go  on  with  their  work 
quietly  and  give  him  no  more  trouble,  he  would  not  insist  upon 
their  surrendering  the  half-blood,  though  the  fellow  would  have 
to  come  on  deck  and  share  in  the  general  work  as  heretofore. 
Of  course,  on  his  arrival  at  Rio,  he  would  report  the  matter,  and 
leave  the  rest  to  the  law.  That  was  his  duty.  He  further  told  the 
men  that  Gordon  would  take  the  place  of  Mr.  Bothwell,  and  that 
he — that  is  to  say,  the  captain — would  stand  watch  and  watch 
with  him  for  the  rest  of  the  voyage,  unless,  amongst  the  crew, 
he  should  later  on  discover  a  man  fit  to  take  the  duties  of  second 
mate,  when,  if  the  hands  consented,  he  should  be  willing  to  bring 
him  aft.  Indeed,  Gordon  told  me  that  Broadwater  talked  so 
soberly  to  the  sailors,  that  they  stared  at  him  and  at  one  another 
as  though  they  suspected  some  ugly  scheme  behind  this  sudden, 
queer  shift  of  face.  However,  it  ended  in  their  expressing 
themselves  satisfied  ;  and  Gordon  particularly  noticed  that  when 
the  watch  were  turned  to  to  wash  down,  they  sprang  to  the  work 
with  the  liveliness  of  people  from  whom  a  shadow  and  a  burthen 
have  been  lifted,  whilst  the  watch  below,  who  went  forward  to 
get  their  breakfast,  exhibited  every  symptom  of  surprise  and 
gratification. 

'  But  it's  all  along  of  your  doing,  sir,'  continued  the  boatswain, 
still  speaking  in  a  voice  scarcely  raised  above  a  whisper ;  'it  was 
that  there  demand  of  yours  that  he  should  carry  the  ship  to 
Madeiry  that  worked  on  the  captain.  He  came  up  to  me  in  a 
passion,  and  asked  me  what  I  meant  by  speaking  ot  Madeiry  to 
you ;  but  cooled  down  astonishingly  rapid,  and,  after  taking  a 
few  turns  by  himself,  sung  out  to  me  to  send  the  men  aft,  with 
the  consequence  as  I've  related.  A  leary  old  gentleman,  sir. 
but  what's  happened  is  bound  to  be  well,  providing  it  ends  well. 

This  sudden  change  in  the  captain — though,  like  a  shift  of 
wind,  it  might  mean  only  a  short  blow  from  a  new  quarter  and 
then  a  sweep  back  into  a  long  howling  gale  out  of  the  same  old 
wild  point — was  a  thing  to  feel  grateful  for,  when  the  afternoon 
came  and  brought  with  it  an  hour's  dead  calm, — a  long  wash  of 
muddy  swell  heaving  from  the  south-east,  and  running  a 
sluggish  jumble  of  folds,  round-browed  as  domes,  with  never  a 
ridge  in  twenty  miles  or  them  to  break  the  monotony  of  the 
hump-backed  procession  with  the  sparkling  of  a  glass-clear  head, 
— and  then  a  swift  rush  of  breeze  that  swept  the  foam  out  of  the 
water  as  it  broke  with  a  long  cry  out  of  the  south-east  dinginess. 


THE  SAILOR'S  LAST  TOSS  83 

and  bowed  the  brig  down  to  her  covering-board.  Broadwater 
•was  ready  for  it.  The  topgallant-sails  had  been  furled,  the  main- 
sail snugged  to  its  yard,  some  fore-and-aft  canvas  (no  need  to 
be  too  particular')  hauled  down,  and  the  topsails  were  blowing 
out  from  the  yams  on  the  caps  with  the  reef -tackles  hauled  out, 
and  hands  dancing  aloft  to  knot  the  points,  when  the  first  of  the 
weather  rang  between  our  masts.  It  was  not  a  moment  when 
one  wanted  to  think  there  was  a  mutiny  aboard.  Broadwater 
helped  the  man  at  the  wheel  to  put  the  helm  hard-a-weather, 
and  to  the  long  wash  of  the  Atlantic  swell  foaming  to  the 
sudden  scourging  of  the  wind,  with  the  sail  swelling  from  the 
foretopsail-yard,  the  foresail  yearning  high  as  though  it  would 
fly  into  the  rush  of  shadows  overhead,  hands  chorusing  upon  the 
main,  with  Gordon's  figure  at  the  weather  yard-arm  coming  out 
clean  as  a  pencil-drawing  against  the  soft  dark  race  past  him, 
the  half-blood  Charles  swinging  upon  the  fiemish-horse  at  his 
feet,  the  other  fellows  ranged  along  with  many  a  kick-up  abaft 
of  the  foot-ropes  as  they  plunged  to  the  reef -points  curving  out 
of  reach  as  the  line  of  the  band  arched  to  the  slings  and 
quarters ;  the  brig,  responding  to  her  helm,  and  to  the  heavy 
leeward  drag  of  her  big  thunderous  jib,  gave  her  quarter  to  the 
tempestuous  outfly,  and  went  with  long  seething  rolls  through 
it  like  a  sleigh  over  falls  and  risings  of  snow. 

It  was  blowing  so  hard  presently  that  they  found  the  reefed 
fore-course  and  topsails  with  a  stay -foresail  and  a  fragment  of 
trysail  as  much  as  the  vessel  could  carry  ;  and  before  long  there 
was  a  plentiful  washing  of  water  forward,  for  she  lay  now  as 
close  to  her  course  as  she  would  come,  and  the  ridged  seas  foam- 
ing on  top  of  the  backs  of  the  swell  brimmed  with  a  roar  to  the 
bow  under  the  larboard  cathead,  where  they  rose  in  a  dazzle  of 
white  water,  then  tumbling  inboard  with  the  clatter  of  twenty 
tons  of  shingle,  and  floating  coils  of  the  running  rigging  up 
amongst  the  legs  of  the  men,  and  converting  locomotion  in  the 
waist  into  sheer  floundering.  The  men  worked  briskly,  and  with 
a  will ;  indeed,  I  accepted  this  burst  of  weather  as  a  stroke  of 
Providence,  designed  to  rally  the  minds  of  the  crew  to  their  strict 
business  of  seafaring,  and  to  bring  old  Broadwater  to  recognition 
of  the  value  of  willing  sailors  in  the  navigation  of  a  ship — con- 
siderations which  appeared  to  have  fallen  asleep  in  the  tender 
breezes  that  had  fanned  us  out  of  the  Bay,  under  clear  skies  by 
day  and  sparkling  constellations  by  night,  down  to  the  latitude 
and  longitude  our  keel  was  now  traversing.  Certain  it  was  this 
half-gale — for  it  came  to  that — was  dead  in  the  road  of  Madeira  ; 
indeed  the  brig  could  not  have  looked  up  for  the  island  to  within 
six  points,  and  methought  as  I  stood  near  Broadwater,  whilst 
the  crew  were  on  the  foretopsail-yard,  that  he  turned  his  eyes 
from  the  foaming  windward  sea-board  to  me,  as  if  he  would  say, 
*  You  see  what  chance  your  Madeiry  scheme  would  have  now' 

This  was  really  the  first  bit  or  hard  weather  we  had  yet 
encountered.  The  brig  proved  a  wetter  craft  than  I  should 


94  MAROONED 

have  imagined,  though  she  rose  buoyant  to  each  long  frothing 
hill  of  brine,  with  a  slant  of  her  spars  and  a  shear  of  her  cut- 
water that  made  you  think  she  had  more  of  the  clipper  instincts 
in  her  than  the  mind  of  her  builder  had  included  in  his  model. 
But  it  was  dreary,  weary  work — the  air  on  deck  wet  with  spray 
and  surging  down  upon  you  in  volumes  that  often  forced  you 
to  turn  your  back  upon  it  to  fetch  a  breath,  a  melancholy 
clattering  of  spare  booms  forward,  the  scream  and  smoke  of 
water  hissing  inboards  through  the  scupper-holes  and  then 
draining  away  through  the  same  apertures  in  long  lamentable 
sobbings,  the  shrill  whistling  of  the  gale  splitting  upon  the 
curve  of  the  gray  ropes,  the  quick  roar  of  it  as  it  flung  as  with 
a  sound  of  cannon  from  under  the  foot  of  the  arched  canvas  to 
the  weather  roll  of  the  masts ;  whilst  below  it  was  dismaller 
yet,  bulkheads  creaking,  cabin-aoors  ticking  like  gigantic  clocks 
upon  their  hooks  and  hinges  to  the  regular  swaying,  groanings 
of  strained  cargo  in  the  hold,  and  such  a  tumblefication  of 
deck,  that  haying  once  fairly  brought  up  on  a  locker  you 
loathed  the  obligation  of  leaving  it. 

The  storm-shrouded  day  howled  itself  steadfastly  onwards  into 
the  blackness  of  night,  when  the  scene  of  commotion  took  a  new 
character  of  wildness  from  the  swarmings  of  sea-fire  in  the  curl 
of  each  dark  summit,  and  in  the  soft  sheet-lightning-like  flashes 
of  the  phosphor  flying  with  the  water  through  our  rigging.  But 
though  it  was  a  time  of  discomfort,  it  was  a  time  of  compara- 
tive ease  too,  for  it  blew  all  thoughts  of  mutiny  out  of  one's 
head  :  recollections  of  tragedy,  anxiety,  and  distress  seemed  to 
have  been  washed  overboard  by  the  first  sea  the  brig  shipped, 
and  Miss  Grant  said  to  me  that  she  would  be  glad  never  to  see 
a  sunlit  day  nor  a  placid  night  of  moonshine  again  during  the 
rest  of  the  voyage,  providing  the  Iron  Crown  continued  to  stem 
fairly  onwards  for  Kio,  and  the  men  remained  quiet,  and  Broad- 
water  too  occupied  by  the  weather  to  bluster  and  bully  as  of  old. 

I  confess  I  had  forgotten  all  about  the  dead  mate,  when  on 
returning  from  a  short  look  round  on  deck  at  about  half-past  ten 
— Miss  Grant  having  withdrawn  to  her  berth  an  hour  before — I 
saw  Gordon  and  the  cabin-boy  staggering  out  of  one  of  the  fore- 
most cabins,  bearing  between  them  a  long  white  bundle.  I  asked 
the  boatswain  what  it  was,  and  he  answered, '  The  body  of  the 
mate,  sir.'  The  thing,  bolster  shape,  was  stitched  up  in  sail-cloth, 
and  more  ghastly,  maybe,  to  the  imagination  for  lacking  sugges- 
tion of  human  outline. 

'  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  it  ? '  I  asked. 

'Heave  it  overboard,  sir,'  answered  Gordon. 

I  might  have  suspected  as  much ;  yet  I  could  not  make  sure 
that  Broadwater  would  have  dismissed  the  remains  of  his 
factotum  without  a  benediction. 

'  The  capt'n  wouldn't  trust  the  handling  of  him  to  any  of  the 
people  forward,'  said  Gordon,  '  nor  bury  him  by  daylight  under 
their  noses.  I  reckon  he's  right.  This  here,  said  he,  with  a 


THE  SAILOR'S  LAST  TOSS  to 

look,  at  the  burthen,  at  one  end  of  which  he  swayed  whilst  the 
cabin-boy  staggered  at  the  other,  but  without  the  pale  constern- 
ation in  h'is  race  that  would  have  shown  in  it  had  the  captain 
been  his  assistant,  'is  still  as  a  red  rag  to  more  than  one  pair  of 
horns  which  have  sprouted  aboard  us  of  late  days.  Steady,  my 
lad !  Slew  round  now !  I'll  go  back'ards  up  the  steps,  and 
don't  you  pull ! ' 

The  brig  rolled  so  heavily,  that  I  expected  every  moment  to 
see  the  boatswain  plump  down  with  his  ghastly  burthen  and 
overset  the  boy.  They  managed  to  get  it  on  deck,  however, 
without  mishap,  and  following,  I  watched  them  from  over  the 
edge  of  the  companion-hatch  swing  the  white  thing  with  a  low 
growling  one,  two,  THEEE  !  from  Gordon,  and  send  it  with  a  flash 
like  any  one  of  the  sheets  of  milk-white  foam  bursting  over  the 
weather-rail  into  the  dark  waters  beyond.  The  sailor's  last 
toss  !  I  thought,  as  I  re-entered  the  cabin  ;  and  whose  child  had 
been  that  negro-headed,  handsome-featured  fellow  ?  The  wolfish 
yell  of  the  wind  high  aloft  swept  to  the  black  orifice  of  the 
hatchway  as  an  answer  to  the  question,  and  no  icy  blast  could 
have  struck  such  a  shudder  through  me  as  the  chili  that  trembled 
from  my  hair  to  my  feet  to  the  sudden  lighting  of  my  eyes 
upon  the  mahogany-like  stain  upon  the  cabin  deck.  One  thing 
on  top  of  another,  twas  almost  enough  to  make  a  man  feel  sorry 
for  the  murdered  wretch.  If  ever  a  creature  was  charged  to 
the  gorge  with  all  qualities  which  go  to  the  making  of  a  romantic 
scoundrel,  this  same  Neil  Bothwell  had  been.  Maybe  he  was 
born  a  little  too  late  ;  for  the  paddle-wheel,  if  not  the  propeller, 
was  even  now  scooping  up  all  idealism  out  of  the  sea.  If  the 
black  flag  were  not  actually  hauled  down,  it  was  on  its  way  to 
the  locker,  there  to  moulder  ;  the  Corsair  had  buried  his  Medora, 
and  gone  to  the  Isles  of  Greece  to  slink  out,  oily  and  filthy, 
upon  the  sleepy  Turk,  or  the  humming  Sicilian.  The  slaver 
alone  was  active.  Yet  I  never  can  recall  Mr.  Bothwell's  woolly 
head,  his  chiselled  features,  white  teeth,  and  nimble,  sparkling 
eyes,  along  with  the  dark  brutality  of  his  nature,  his  piratical 
voice  and  venomous  language,  without  feeling  persuaded  that 
the  knife  of  the  half-blood  had  cut  short  a  career  which,  in  its 
continuance,  despite  the  crimson  cross  and  the  grin-ning  teeth 
of  the  British  frigate,  must  have  supplied  the  naval  writer  with 
many  fruitful  and  astonishing  themes. 

That  miserable  stain  made  the  atmosphere  of  the  cabin  feel 
as  bleak  as  a  vault  on  a  December  night,  and  though  we  were 
supposed  to  be  in  warm  parallels,  I  could  not  have  snugged  me 
in  my  blankets  with  heartier  relish  of  the  clinging  comfort  of 
them  had  the  gale  been  splitting  upon  frozen  rigging,  and  the 
blackness  upon  the  sea  dashed  with  the  iceberg's  spectral  tinge 
of  faintness. 

This  dirty  weather  troubled  us  for  four  days.  It  seemed  to 
have  blown  the  ocean  clear  of  ships  and  birds,  for  we  sighted 
nothing,  whether  winged  with  canvas  or  feathers.  All  day  long 


0»  MAROONED 

'twas  the  same  steadfast  rush  of  the  surge,  green  as  bottle-glass, 
freckled  with  the  foam  flying  from  the  champing  courser  in 
advance,  lifting  a  head  of  melting  white  to  the  sullen  slate  of 
the  shadow  overlaying  the  sky ;  with  once — it  was  on  the 
second  evening — a  nerce  sunset  of  smoking  crimson,  red  spokes 
of  a  dingy  brightness  cleaving  the  black  scud  and  the  boiling, 
angry  haze  of  the  west,  and  touching  the  unmirroring  welter 
into  spaces  of  a  rusty  blood-like  colour,  as  though — and  the 
fancy  was  Miss  Grant  s — each  beam  of  coarse  effulgence  were  a 
material  weapon  darted  by  some  mighty  hand  on  high,  and 
making  the  ocean  bleed  to  the  thrust ;  followed  by  a  sort  of 
melting  out  of  the  sun  into  a  brief,  shapeless,  running  as  of 
molten  ore  low  upon  the  sea-line,  where  the  billows  leapt  black 
against  it ;  till  the  gale,  like  some  baffled,  sentient  thing,  stormed 
up  afresh  with  a  long  victorious  yelling  in  its  western  flight, 
crowding  cloud  upon  cloud  there  with  such  rapid  smothering 
of  the  tarnished  hectic,  that  in  a  few  moments  you  knew  not 
where  to  look  for  the  place  behind  which  the  luminary  had 
foundered. 

Then  followed  several  days  of  fair  weather,  and  if  it  had  not 
been  for  a  lurking  feeling  of  uneasiness,  a  sense  of  trouble 
impending,  I  believe  I  should  have  found  enjoyment  enough  in 
this  time  to  fully  compensate  me  for  the  worries  and  anxieties 
I  had  suffered.  For  three  successive  days  a  pleasant  wind  from 
the  north  and  east  blew  almost  directly  over  our  stern ;  and  the 
brig,  with  studding-sails  overhanging  the  water  far  out  on 
either  side  of  her,  and  soothingly  cradled  by  a  subdued  heave 
of  liquid  fold,  as  regular  as  a  pulse,  and  soft  as  the  rise  and  fall 
of,  a  sleeper's  breast,  floated  steadily  on  her  course,  irradiating 
the  blue  of  the  surge  with  silver  reflection  from  her  extended 
canvas,  whilst  the  short  wake  streamed  off  white  as  a  looking- 
glass,  as  though  indeed  the  lines  of  dark  ripples  breaking  from 
the  bow  shivered  spaces  of  the  translucent  sheen  under  the 
swinging  booms  into  fragments,  which  veering  aft  occasioned  the 
lovely  metallic  shining  which  you  noticed  in  the  furrow  under 
the  counter.  Already  from  the  slope  of  the^  rolling  brows  of 
dark  blue  brine  the  flying-fish  were  whisking  in  short  uncertain 
flights  ;  the  swinish  outline  of  the  porpoise  rose  black  and  wet 
to  the  flash  of  the  sun ;  afar  the  snow-white  spire  of  a  ship's 
canvas  would  break  the  melancholy  continuity  of  the  sea-line. 
Our  shadows  shortened  at  noon,  and  so  fair  was  the  course  we 
headed  that  the  eye  had  almost  the  accuracy  of  the  sextant  iu 
determining  the  period  of  the  meridian,  by  observing  the  wake 
of  the  luminary  rising  and  falling  in  a  fan-shaped  stream  of 
gold  transversely  from  the  horizon  to  our  larboard  cathead. 

One  scarcely  needed  the  comforts  of  the  pleasure-vessel  to 
have  found  it  all  as  full  of  such  delights  as  go  to  a  yachting 
cruise,  if  the  rest  had  been  as  well  as  sea  ana  sky  and  atmo- 
sphere. But,  first  of  all,  there  was  Captain  Broadwater  again. 
Now  that  the  dirty  sky  had  been  blown  away,  and  the  shrill 


THE  SAILOR'S  LAST  TOSS  97 

dark  gale  transformed  into  a  steady  gushing  of  fair  blue  sunlit 
breeze,  warm  as  a  woman's  breath  and  filled  with  the  aroma  of 
a  thousand  leagues  of  ocean,  the  reckless  old  man  had  warped 
his  mind  back  to  its  old  moorings,  and  was  once  more  falnng 
foul  of  the  men,  often  as  I  would  think  without  reason,  or,  when 
justified,  then  always  with  coarse  and  needless  temper.  But 
that  was  not  all.  The  half-blood  Charles  was  about  the  decks, 
for  I  must  tell  you,  now  that  we  were  regularly  at  sea  it  was 
*  all  hands,'  as  the  term  goes,  from  eight  bells  in  the  morning 
down  to  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  with  an  interval  of  an 
hour  from  half-past  eleven  for  dinner ;  and  consequently  it  was 
impossible  to  put  your  head  through  the  companion-hatch 
"without,  after  a  bit,  seeing  the  half-blood  at  work,  sometimes  on 
the  rigging,  sometimes  with  a  marline-spike  on  deck,  but  most 
often  stitching  at  sail-cloth  stretched  along  the  waist.  It  was 
not  only  the  knowing  that  he  was  a  murderer  that  regularly 
affected  me  with  a  violent  stirring  of  emotion  every  time  my 
eye  lighted  on  him,  though  I  should  see  him  twenty  times  in  a 
day }  it  was  the  shock  also,  at  least  to  my  notion  of  shipboard 
discipline,  to  the  marine  habits  of  thought  I  had  carriea  away 
with  me  from  my  early  voyagings,  coming  from  perception  of 
his  being  at  large,  when  without  doubt  he  should  be  in  irons 
below,  and  of  the  liberty  he  was  now  enjoying  being  the  will 
of  the  crew.  My  abhorrence  of  Broad  water's  early  usage  of 
him  could  in  nowise  temper  my  loathing  of  the  olive-coloured 
dastard's  act.  Of  course,  the  crime  of  which  the  fellow  had 
been  guilty  might  well  make  one  suspect  a  deeper  significance 
in  every  action,  gesture,  and  speecli  of  his  than  they  in  reality 
possessed ;  but  sometimes,  in  watching  him  furtively  over  the 
top  of  a  book,  or  whilst  conversing  with  Miss  Grant,  when  he 
was  not  too  far  off  for  his  features  to  be  inexpressive,  I  would 
get  it  into  my  head  that  if  ever  the  swift,  askant  glance  of  a 
human  eye  indicated  treachery  and  black  resolution,  matured 
and  waiting  only,  his  did  whenever  Broad  water's  approach 
courted  a  glance  from  under  his  dusky,  drooping  lids  at  the  old 
fellow.  I  reasoned  thus  :  I  said  to  myself,  this  man  being  guilty 
of  murder,  albeit  he  has  his  freedom  in  the  brig — the  liberty  of 
a  bird  in  a  cage  ! — is  fully  aware  that  the  gallows  awaits  him  on 
his  arrival  in  port,  and  that  the  person  who  will  make  it  his 
especial  business  to  procure  his  prompt  dispatch  is  that  same 
red-faced,  hectoring,  noisy,  and  tyrannous  skipper,  at  whom, 
when  he  imagines  himself  unperceived,  he  darts  as  malignant 
&  glance  as  ever  I  witnessed  in  mortal  eyes.  What  then  1  Is  it 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  yonder  half-blood  intends  to  resign- 
edly suffer  himself  to  be  carried  to  Pdo,  and  on  the  testimony  of 
the  depositions  of  that  ship-master  there,  whom  he  abhors,  to 
suffer  with  his  life  for  his  deed  ?  Then  I  would  say  to  myself, 
But  what  is  he  to  do  ?  Certainly  he  cannot  prevent  the  master 
from  navigating  the  brig  to  her  South  American  destination. 
Does  he  contemplate  suicide,  as  his  only  chance  of  escaping  th'j 

a 


98  MAROONED 

executioner?  He  is  under  the  protection  of  the  crew.  Has  he 
any  influence  -with  them  ?  Assuming  that  he  has,  what  use  can 
he  make  of  it  ?  Thus  would  I  sometimes  speculate,  idly  indeed  ; 
yet  the  thoughts  that  occurred  to  me  were  of  a  kind  to  rob  the 
smooth  ocean  of  its  placidity,  and  the  gay  picture  of  the  brig, 
brilliant  with  the  serene  splendour  of  the  heavens,  of  something 
of  its  beauty. 

However,  I  kept  my  thoughts  to  myself ;  I  took  care  that 
Miss  Grant  should  have  no  suspicion  of  what  was  passing  in  my 
mind,  nor  did  I  utter  a  word  on  the  subject  to  Gordon,  mainly 
because  I  felt  the  whole  thing  was  mere  foreboding,  and  that 
discussion  of  it  could  therefore  serve  no  end. 


CHAPTER  XV 

WE  SAIL  THBOTJGH  A  STRANGE  LIGHT 

I  REMEMBER  it  was  on  the  third  night  of  this  gentle  weather 
that  I  was  quietly  walking  up  and  down  the  deck  with  Miss 
Grant's  hand  lying  light  on  my  arm.  Four  bells  had  not  been, 
long  stvuck.  The  night  was  dark,  but  exceedingly  beautiful, 
with  a  tropical  richness  of  starlight  that  yet,  though  to  the  eye 
it  showed  like  a  wide  fine  rain  of  silver  light,  suffered  the  sea  to 
heave  black  to  the  confines  of  the  hovering  firmament — not  a 
break  or  glance  of  foam  anywhere,  not  the  tiniest  sparkle  of  the 
sea-glow,  albeit  with  my  companion  I  had  overhung  the  quarter 
for  many  minutes  to  watch  for  any  greenish  cloudy  rising, 
any  yellow  fibrous  shooting  ;  for  of  all  oceanic  midnight  sights 
nothing  delights  me  so  keenly  as  the  movement  of  phosphoric 
swarmings  in  the  quiet  ebon  brine,  when  the  vessel  has  just  way 
enough  to  stir  the  liquid  blackness  into  shining  configurations 
of  all  sorts  along  her  sides,  and  to  mark  her  passage  by  a  jewel- 
like  trailing  of  luminous  bells  of  foam,  and  the  emerald  glare  of 
misty  puffs  of  fire.  The  brig,  with  studding-sails  out  on  either 
side,  was  floating  through  the  shadow  of  the  night  at  some  four 
or  five  miles  in  the  hour.  Her  wide  stretch  of  canvas  rose  pallid 
to  the  gloom,  and  died  upon  the  eye  in  mere  films  and  spaces  of 
faintness  ere  the  sight  could  penetrate  to  the  forms  of  the  little 
sails  which  crowned  the  stone-coloured  pyramid.  All  was  silent 
—every  cloth  aloft  was  asleep.  Under  the  black  arches  of  the 
distenaed  canvas,  the  stars  would  come  and  go  to  the  movement 
of  the  fabric,  like  eyes  of  invisible  shapes,  peering  an  instant  over 
the  edge  of  the  yards  down  upon  the  dim  glimmer  of  the  brig^s 
decks.  Gordon  was  in  charge.  I  had  killed  half-an-hour  some 
time  before  with  him  in  talk,  but  when  Miss  Grant  arrived  I 
paired  off  with  her,  and  left  my  hearty  friend  to  fill  the  interval 
betwixt  the  wheel  and  the  main-rigging  with  lonely  meditations. 


WE  SAIL  THROUGH  A  STRANGE  LIGHT  9d 

I  do  not  mind  owning  here,  that  on  such  a  night  as  this  it  was 
not  very  easy  to  check  in  myself  something  of  those  sentimental 
thoughts  concerning  my  fascinating  companion  which  had 
bothered  me,  as  I  have  elsewhere  said,  at  an  earlier  date,  and 
which  no  doubt  would  have  continued  to  worry  and  vex  me 
down  to  this  hour,  but  for  the  murder  of  the  mate  and  the 
posture  of  the  crew.  The  quiet  weather,  and  the  apparent  peace 
in  the  brig  during  the  last  three  days,  had  enabled  _  us  to  be 
much  together  on  deck  again,  and  to  converse  on  subjects  of  a 
kind  very  different  from  assassination  on  shipboard,  and  the 
perils  of  passengers  in  vessels  worked  by  mutinous  sailors. 
•  Indeed,  the  long  and  short  of  it  is,  as  we  stepped  the  deck 
together  this  night,  I  felt  that  if  our  voyage  to  Rio  should  be 
long  delayed,  it  must  infallibly  end  in  my  falling  in  love  with 
Miss  Aurelia.  It  would  not  do  to  call  the  emotion  a  disloyalty 
to  my  cousin.  What  must  happen  cannot  be  helped,  and  there 
is  nothing  in  philosophy  to  balk  the  issue,  though  it  may  teach 
one  how  to  support  it.  The  utmost  I  could  hope  to  do  was  to 
disguise  my  feelings  ;  quit  Kio  as  promptly  as  the  shipping  there 
would  suffer,  and  leave  the  rest  to  old  Time,  with  his  brush  and 
whitewash.  Still  the  position  was  an  exceedingly  uncom- 
fortable one,  and  it  was  likely  to  endure  long  enough  to  render 
me  very  unhappy  •  for  in  those  days  I  was  a  young  man  with 
the  heart  and  sensibilities  of  youth  ;  and  to  fall  in  love  with  a 
woman  who  was  betrothed  to  another ;  to  find  my  happiness 
subtly  sneaking  away,  and  making  its  existence  dependent  upon 
conditions  which  never  could  be  fulfilled  ;  to  feel,  moreover,  that 
the  emotions,  which  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  suppress,  were  in 
a  sense  unfair  to  the  girl — though  I  must  always  maintain  that 
the  highest  compliment  a  man  can  pay  a  woman  is  to  fall  in 
love  with  her — whilst  they  were  dishonouring  to  myself,  in  my 
existing  relations  with  my  cousin,  was  to  place  myself,  without 
being  able  to  help  it,  in  a  position  so  immediately  distressful  as 
to  threaten  by  and  by  to  become  distracting.  The  worst  of  it 
was,  that  whilst  I  would  wish  the  voyage  over,  my  conscience 
was  sensible  that  the  desire  was  nonsense,  and  that  I  was  in  no 
hurry.  To  be  sure,  it  would  be  with  no  common  delight  that  I 
should  part  with  Captain  Broadwater  and  his  odious  dinner- 
table,  and  take  an  eternal  farewell  of  a  ship's  company  of  whose 
behaviour  it  was  impossible  to  make  sure  from  one  hour's  end 
to  another ;  but  already — already !  though  Miss  Grant  and  I 
had  been  together  for  a  fortnight  only — the  prospect  of  turning 
my  back  upon  her,  of  saying  good-bye  to  her  at  Rio,  of  sailing 
away  and  feeling  that  all  I  had  done  was  to  undergo  the 
miseries  of  a  long  voyage  merely  to  hand  over  the  handsomest 
woman  that  I  had  ever  met  in  my  life — the  only  girl,  moreover, 
I  had  ever  encountered  to  whom  I  could  have  given  every  bit  of 
my  heart, — I  say  the  prospect  of  this  was  all  so  very  distaste- 
ful to  me,  that  when  I  came  to  look  into  myself  I  was  not  at 
all  astonished  to  find  I  was  secretly  willing  that  this  voyage 

H  2 


100  MAKOONEb 

to  Bio  should  continue,  at  all  risks,  to  a  period  that  might  be  in* 
determinable,  sooner  than  sunder  my  association  with  the  lovely 
and  engaging  girl  whom  my  abominably  thoughtless  cousin  had 
asked  me  to  take  charge  of. 

But  these  were  my  thoughts  only.  _  It  was  not  to  be  supposed 
that  she  would  have  the  least  suspicion  of  what  was  passing 
in  my  mind.  There  was  nothing  of  the  coquette  in  her ;  no 
capacity  of  courting  admiration  for  the  mere  selfish  pleasure  of 
enjoying  it.  As  she  walked  by  my  side,  the  warm  fragrance  of 
her  on  the  atmosphere,  her  face  white  to  the  star-shine  with  the 
sparkles  of  it  in  her  eyes,  I  had  very  little  doubt,  believe  me, 
that,  had  she  guessed  at  the  thoughts  which  had  my  heart  in 
tow,  she  would  have  rapidly  made  shift  to  conquer  the  floating 
movements  of  the  deck  without  the  support  of  my  arm,  upon 
which  her  left  hand  now  rested.  Upon  my  word,  the  cruellest 
of  all  women — not  the  more  forgivable  because  she  is  uncon- 
sciously cruel — is  the  girl  who,  knowing  that  she  is  beautiful, 
acts  without  perception  of  the  magic  and  influence  of  her  graces. 
Fortunately  for  the  peace  of  men,  such  women  are  rare.  But 
Miss  Aureua  Grant  was  one  of  them,  and  though  the  more 
intimate  our  association  was,  the  more,  in  one  sense,  and  in  a 
mean  sense,  I  am  afraid,  I  enjoyed  it,  yet  she  could  never  touch 
my  hand,  bend  her  fire-impassioned  eyes  upon  mine,  incline  her 
stately  figure  to  me  with  the  gracious,  maidenly  familiarity  of 
a  girl  in  the  society  of  a  man  whom  she  values  as  a  friend, 
without  a  sort  of  wild,  odd  regret  in  me  that  Nature,  in  making 
her  beautiful,  had  not  also  dowered  her  with  the  capacity  of 
appreciating  the  significance  of  beauty's  most  artless  provoca- 
tion. But  then  the  Spanish  blood  would  account  for  much  in 
her  that  was  as  teasing  as  it  was  delightful. 

Now,  as  we  quietly  moved  from  one  end  of  the  deck  to  the 
other,  there  happened  so  strange  a  thing,  that  the  like  of  it  in 
these  parallels,  at  all  events,  has,  to  my  knowledge,  been  wit- 
nessed once  only.  We  had  been  chatting  as  soberly  as  though 
we  were  uncle  and  niece  :  not  the  lightest  of  the  inspirations  of 
this  most  glorious  night  coming  out  of  it  to  tincture  our  words 
or  thoughts  into  any  complexion  of  romance,  though  never  might 
a  scene  of  starlit  gloom  furnish  a  young  fellow,  already  rendered 
sentimental  enough,  with  a  better  excuse  for  frequent  poetical 
flight  than  this,  in  whose  shadow  I  paced  with  Miss  Aurelia, 
her  ungloved  hand  (with  the  gleam,  by  the  way,  of  an  engaged 
ring  meeting  my  eye  each  time  I  looked  down)  lying  white  as 
a  flake  of  sea-foam  in  the  bight  of  my  arm.  I  was  talking  about 
old  Broadwater,  and  expressed  my  wonder  that  he  should  be 
able  to  accommodate  his  love  of  rum  and  his  taste  for  '  all  night 
in,'  as  they  say  at  sea,  with  the  obligation  he  had  imposed  upon 
himself  of  taking  Bothwell's  place. 

'Spite  of  his  many  shortcomings,'  she  exclaimed,  'I  should 
think  he  is  too  experienced  a  sailor,  too  much  a  seaman  by 
habit,  not  to  be  vigilant  during  his  watch,' 


WE  SAIL  THROUGH  A  STRANGE  LIGHT  101 

*Oh/  said  L,  'I  don't  doubt  that  he  keeps  a  bright  look-out 
when  his  turn  to  take  charge  comes  round.  What  I  mean  is,  it 
is  odd  that  he  should  not  have  chosen  some  one  from  amongst 
the  men  forward  to  act  as  second  mate,  Gordon  now  being  first, 
for  then  he  world  be  able  to  go  to  bed  drunk  as  usual,  with 
plenty  of  time  to  sleep  off  the  fumes  ;  but  the  long  and  short 
of  it  is,'  I  added,  c  there's  no  living  creature  in  his  forecastle  to 
whom  he  durst  confide  his  ship.' 

As  I  said  this,  I  heard  my  name  called,  apparently  from  the 
forecastle.  We  were  at  that  moment  close  to  the  wheel,  and  in 
the  act  of  returning  to  measure  the  length  of  deck  afresh.  I 
•was  not  a  little  surprised  to  hear  myself  hailed  from  so  remote 
a  part  of  the  brig,  and  as  I  had  not  recognized  the  voice,  I  sang 
out.  '  Who  wants  me  there  ? ' 

'Me,  sir — the  mate,' came  the  answer  from  the  bows;  'will  you 
and  the  lady  please  step  this  way?' 

I  asked  Miss  Grant  if  she  would  accompany  me,  thinking  that 
she  might  be  a  little  shy,  and  very  reasonably  shy  too,  under 
the  circumstances,  of  that  part  of  the  vessel, 

'Certainly,'  she  answered  promptly. 

We  had  to  move  with  caution.  The  pile  of  canvas  that 
clothed  the  brig  from  truck  to  waterway  deepened  the  midnight 
obscurity  of  the  deck,  and  though  it  was  plain  sailing  where  we 
had  been  walking,  yet,  once  abreast  of  the  mainmast,  one  had  to 
keep  a  sharp  look-out,  by  groping,  for  the  harness-cask,  scuttle- 
butts, coils  of  rigging,  pump-handles,  and  other  matters  which 
lay  between  the  point  where  the  quarter-deck  began  and  where 
the  brig's  forecastle  ended.  I  called  out,  '  On  which  side  are 
you,  Mr.  Gordon  ?'  wondering  why  he  wanted  us,  and  what  had 
carried  him  away  from  his  post  aft. 

'On  the  starboard  bow,  sir,'  he  rejoined  ;  'mind  the  fluke  of 
the  stowed  anchor  as  ye  come  along  !  I'm  just  forrard  of  it.' 

I  held  Miss  Grant's  hand,  walking  in  front  of  her.  The 
galley  was  locked  up  for  the  night  j  there  was  not  the  faintest 
gleam  of  light  anywhere  visible,  if  it  were  not  a  sort  of  ghostly 
sheen  lurking  like  a  churchyard  exhalation  over  the  fore-scuttle, 
from  the  slush-lamp,  as  I  presumed,  swinging  in  the  sailor's  sea- 
parlour  below.  Indeed  I  was  so  engrossed  by  the  occupation  of 
picking  my  way,  that  I  saw  nothing  until  I  was  fairly  alongside 
of  Gordon,  who  pointed,  with  a  long  shadowy  arm,  the  fingers 
at  the  end  of  which  showed  like  a  giant's  against  the  stars,  over 
the  horizon,  and  exclaimed,  'Mr.  Musgrave,  sir,  saw  any  man 
ever  the  like  o'  that  ?  What  can  it  be  1 ' 

^  He  held  his  arm  levelled,  and  following  its  indication  I  saw, 
right  ahead  of  the  ship,  standing  apparently  upon  the  ocean  at 
the  distance  of  the  horizon,  an  arch  of  light,  or  rather,  let  me 
say,  a  shape  of  dim  white  radiance,  that  arched  in  perfect  out- 
line from  one  leg  to  another  that  appeared  to  rest  upon  the 
black  surface  of  the  deep  to  within  three  or  four  degrees  of  the 
sea-line,  as  though  its  foot  had  broken  away.  There  is  nothing 


102  MAKOONED 

so  deceptive  as  distance  at  sea.  The  light,  when  I  first  saw  itf 
might  have  been  within  gunshot,  or  it  might  have  been  a  couple 
of  leagues  away  from  us.  The  radiance  had  the  tint  of  moon- 
shine, and  was  as  visibly  defined  upon  the  velvet  dusk  as  though 
painted  there  by  the  sweep  of  a  brush  dipped  in  white  fire. 
You  saw  the  stars  shining  close  against  the  rim  of  it,  all  round 
and  under  the  arch  of  it,  where  they  sparkled  like  the  riding- 
lights  of  ships. 

'  What  is  it,  Mr.  Musgrave  ? '  exclaimed  Gordon,  in  the  voice 
of  a  man  not  only  awed,  but  even  alarmed. 

1 1  wish  I  could  tell  you,'  said  I.  '  It  looks  like  the  fiery  trail  of 
a  comet  that  has  swept  in  an  arc  from  behind  the  sea,  and  gone 
to  pieces  in  the  blackness  before  it  had  perfected  the  semicircle.' 

'We  are  steering  directly  for  it ! '  exclaimed  Miss  Grant. 

The  watch  on  deck,  disturbed  in  the  naps  they  were  taking  in 
secret  corners  by  Gordon's  call  to  me,  had  collected  near  us, 
and  you  heard  the  growling  of  their  voices  as  they  pointed 
ahead,  marvelling,  as  we  did,  one  to  another  at  the  startling, 
beautiful,  radiant  appearance.  I  heard  one  say,  'Jim,  it's  a 
sort  of  vast  compreesant.  There's  no  luck  for  the  vessel  as 
sights  them  shows.' 

Another  said,  '  If  we  are  to  sail  through  it,  stand  by !  The 
likes  of  them  lights,  I've  heered,  strikes  men  green  if  they  smites 
'em  full.'  f 

'  What  in  thunder  can  it  be  ? '  repeated  Gordon ;  '  'tain't  any- 
thing burning  out  there,  is  it?  BLOW ^ fur  do  it  stretch?  Can 
any  man  tell  ?  Looks  to  me  to  be  a- widening.' 

One  of  the  shadowy  group  beside  me  exclaimed, '  Job  is  to 
know  how  fur  off  it  lies.  I  allow  there's  all  ten  mile  between 
them  legs.' 

'  'Vast  there  1 '  cried  another,  '  ten  mile  !  I'll  swap  my  chest 
agin  your  Scotch  cap  afore  eight  bells  this  blooming  night  if 
them  legs  is  a  mile  wide.' 

'  I'll  go  aft  and  report  it  to  the  captain,'  said  Gordon,  in  a 
voice  that  betrayed  the  agitation  he  was  labouring  under. 
'  Never  seed  the  like  of  such  a  thing  in  all  my  time.  Beats  all 
my  going  a-fishing,  sir.  Why,  it's  a  object  that  ain't  in  nature ; 
and  if  we  don't  give  it  a  wide  berth  it  '11  be  a  bad  look-out  for 
some  of  us,  or  I  wasn't  christened  Zana,'  and  apparently  as 
much  subdued  as  if  he  had  seen  a  ghost,  or  heard  some  spectral 
voice  up  in  the  air  bidding  him  prepare  for  his  end,  he  slunk 
away  from  our  side,  and  vanished  in  the  darkness,  as  he  made 
his  way  to  the  cabin. 

When  he  was  gone  a  deep  silence  fell  The  men  ceased  to 
speak.  Miss  Grant  and  I  gazed  without  exchanging  a  syllable. 
Nothing  was  to  be  heard  but  the  soft  shearing  of  the  cutwater 
beneath  us,  rending  the  liquid  indigo  with  the  noise  as  of  the 
tearing  of  satin  ;  the  blackness  under  the  bows  was  profound — 
not  a  sparkle  of  phosphor  to  catch  the  eye,  not  the  sickliest 
flake  of  star-shine  to  express  the  invisible  heave  of  the  deep  by 


WE  SAIL  THROUGH  A  STRANGE  LIGHT  103 

the  wire -like  widening  of  it  to  the  movement.  I  looked  behind 
me  at  the  towering  canvas  on  the  foremast,  and  found  a  strange 
solemnity  in  the  visionary  beauty  of  the  silent,  swelling,  airy 
concavities  mounting  in  pale  vague  surfaces  into  the  stooping 
dusk ;  but  whether  near  or  distant,  the  mystic  arch  of  light 
ahead  threw  not  the  feeblest  gleam  upon  that  soaring  surface 
that  spectrally  dilated  on  either  hand  to  the  pinions  of  the  stud- 
<i  ing-sails  which  faded  into  a  hovering  faintness  far  beyond  the 
sides.  The  mysterious  sheen  to  our  approach  seemed  to  gather 
a  quicker  tincture  of  lustre,  as  of  the  diamond,  or  some  clear 
glittering  star.  It  is  impossible  to  express  the  startling  loveli- 
ness of  this  apparition  of  luminous  arch  against  the  midnight 
sky,  with  the  stars  shining  down  to  its  rim,  and  spangling  the 
hollow  to  the  sea-line  within.  'Twas  as  though  God's  hand 
had  set  up  a  sign  in  the  sky  for  us  to  behold,  and  the  men  now 
were  so  dumb  in  the  face  of  it,  that  you  easily  guessed  how 
impressed  and  awed  they  were.  Most  of  the  watch  below 
had  come  up  to  have  a  look,  but  each  new-corner's  first  mur- 
mur of  wonder  speedily  died  in  the  hush  that  was  upon  the 
others. 

'  What  is  it,  do  you  think,  Mr.  Musgrave  V  said  Miss  Grant,  in 
a  voice  a  little  above  a  whisper. 

'  Were  we  far  north  or  south,'  I  replied,  '  one  would  make  it 
intelligible  by  reference  to  the  Northern  Lights,  or  to  tho 
magnificent  display  of  the  Aurora  Australis,  with  its  sudden 
pale  flashings  and  spiral  coruscations.  No  doubt  yonder  beauti- 
ful object  is  something  of  the  kind,  electric — phosphoric— call  it 
what  you  will.  But  is  it  not  worth  seeing  ?  Why,  one  would 
sail  round  the  world  even  with  old  Broadwater  for  such 
possession  of  memory  as  that  glorious  span  will  yield  ! ' 

4  It  will  fill  these  poor  fellows  with  superstitious  fancies,'  she 
said,  speaking  very  softly.  '  Did  you  hear  one  of  them  say  that 
people  who  sail  through  such  things  are  struck  green?' 

I  could  not  help  laughing,  and  said,  '  Yes  ;  but  it  is  possible  to 
be  green  without  passing  through  such  an  arch  as  that.  If  these 
sailors,  now,  were  lioman  Catholics  after  the  type  of  the  mariners 
of  Columbus's  day,  they  would  be  on  their  knees  chanting  litanies, 
and  making  the  air  melodious  with  their  Salve  Beginas.  But 
is  not  superstition  excusable  amongst  seamen?  Look  at  that 
wonderful  sight,  Miss  Grant.  Imagine  yourself  run  backwards 
by  the  stream  of  time  three  hundred  years — before  the  scientific 
man  had  broken  loose,  when  the  world  was  bare  of  problem- 
solvers,  when  all  interpretation  was  deliciqusly  romantic  and 
tenderly  poetical.  What  then  would  you  think  of  such  a  sight 
as  that  ?  It  would  be  no  mere  phosphoric  or  electric  arch.  No, 
no  ;  but  some  paradisaical  bridge  of  ethereal  crystal,  such  as  St. 
John  may  have  gazed  upon  without  having  recorded  it ;  and  be 
sure  that  your  young-eyed  imagination,  iired  by  sheer  ecstasy 
of  superstition,  would  readily  discern  the  forms  of  angelic 
beings  with  wings  of  pearly  light,  and  raiment  as  lustrous  as  a 


104  MAROONED 

moonbeam,  flitting  aiong  it  to  the  stars  upon  which  its  unfinished 
end  to  the  left  there  seems  to  rest.' 

I  merely  talked  thus  to  provoke  her,  delighting  in  the  high 
moods  which  even  such  idle  stuff  as  this  would  induce  in  her. 
But  unfortunately  it  was  not  only  that  we  were  not  alone  ;  I  had 
scarcely  made  an  end,  when  old  Broad  water,  followed  by  Gordon, 
rolled  floundering  and  tumbling  on  to  the  forecastle.  He  came 
and  stood  close  against  me,  puffing  and  blowing  in  such  a 
manner  that  my  nose  was  a  long  way  ahead  of  my  ears  in  detect- 
ing that  if  he  was  not  actually  drunk  he  must  have  turned  in 
very  well  primed.  He  stared  for  some  moments  in  silence, 
breathing  hard,  and  then  burst  out,  '  Well,  boil  me  alive  if  ever 
I  seed  the  likes  of  that !  'Tain't  fire,  neither.  What  do  you  call 
it,  Mr.  Gordon?' 

'  Got  no  idea,  sir,'  answered  the  mate,  speaking  as  before  with 
a  note  of  awe  and  depression  in  his  voice.  '  Shall  we  shift  the 
helm  while  there's  time  ?  It  looks  close  aboard  now,  and  we 
shall  be  into  it  if  we  don't  mind.' 

'Shift  the  helium!'  cried  Broadwater.  'What  for?  D'ye 
think  it's  land,  man  ?  Why,  what  else  is  it  but  what  they  calls 
a  luminous  fog  ?  And  who's  going  to  diwerge  for  a  thickness 
you  can  see  through  ? ' 

Some  man  said?  '  That  there's  no  luminous  fog,  master.  It's  a 
big,  strike-me-blmd  compreesant.  Look  out !  It  may  foul 
our  mastheads  as  we  pass  under  it,  and  who's  to  know  that  we 
shall  ever  be  heard  of  arterwards?' 

Broadwater,  who  had  been  peering  hard  into  my  face,  seemed 
on  a  sudden  to  distinguish  me,  and  without  apparently  heeding 
the  man  who  had  spoken,  exclaimed,  '  Hope  you're  enjoying  of 
it,  Mr.  Musgrave.  Tain't  often  a  sight  like  that's  chucked  in 
for  naught  in  a  voyage  to  Rio.' 

'Am  I  to  shift  the  helm,  sir?'  said  Gordon. 

4  Certainly  not ! '  roared  the  old  fellow,  '  didn't  ye  hear  me 
say  so  just  now?  Cook  me  alive,  Mr.  Musgrave,  if  sailors  be 
men  fit  even  to  make  soldiers  of !  Diwerge  because  there's  a 
lunar  rainbow  in  the  road ! '  He  seemed  to  be  struck  by  his 
own  fancy.  '  It's  a  lunar  rainbow,'  he  shouted ;  '  one  of  the 
finest  I  ever  see.' 

'  Where's  the  moon  to  make  him  ? '  said  a  voice. 

'Keep  all  on  as  ye  are,  Mr.  Gordon ;  all  on  as  ye  are ! '  said 
Broadwater,  with  an  ominous  growl  in  his  tones,  that  was  like 
an  intimation  to  the  little  company  of  shadows  standing  near 
him  to  hold  their  peace.  '  Steady  as  she  goes,  sir ! '  and  so 
saying  he  staggered  away  from  the  rail,  and  went  swinging 
towards  the  quarter-deck,  singing  out  to  the  helmsman  as  he 
went, '  Steady  as  she  goes,  my  man  !  steady  as  she  goes ! ' 

We  had  neared  the  shining  appearance  so  rapidly,  that  I  sus- 
pected it  must  have  been  very  much  closer  to  us  when  first 
sighted  than  we  had  imagined.  It  cast  no  reflection  upon  the 
dark  waters  under  it,  nor  sheen  upon  the  air  beyond  the  line  of 


WE  SAIL  THROUGH  A  STRANGE  LIGHT          105 

its  own  irradiation,  as  you  saw  by  the  shine  of  the  stars  close 
down  upon  it.  As  we  were  under  a  steady  helm,  it  soon  became 
plain  that  the  sparkling  arch  was  slowly  trending  to  larboard. 
When  it  first  showed  out,  our  jibbooms  seemed  to  point  fair 
for  the  centre  of  it,  whereas  now  the  right  leg  had  drawn  on 
to  our  starboard  bow.  The  obscurity  seemed  the  blacker  for 
that  light.  I'd  look  aloft  and  around,  wondering  that  no  illumi- 
nation came  from  the  mystical  burning  to  touch  the  sails,  or  to 
put  a  sparkle  into  the  eyes  of  the  staring  men.  They  were 
grumbling  freely,  swearing  that  nothing  but  ill-luck  could 
attend  our  passage  through  the  luminous  thing,  and  heaping 
curses  upon  the  captain  for  his  drunken  obstinacy.  Gordon 
had  followed  Broadwater  on  to  the  quarter-deck,  but  Miss 
Grant  and  I  held  our  place  against  the  forecastle-rail.  Within 
half-an-hour  of  the  object  heaving  into  view,  we  were  close 
upon  it.  Even  when  our  fiying-jibboom  end  was  silvered  by 
contact  with  the  luminosity,  the  jibs  themselves  hung  black  as 
thunder-clouds  against  the  shining.  I  had  just  time  to  note 
the  wondrous  sweep  of  this  mighty  arch,  extending  like  a  vast 
hueless  rainbow  into  the  clear  obscure,  when  the  light  was  all 
about  us.  I  begged  my  companion  to  look  aft ;  the  spectacle 
was  incomparable  for  splendour  and  shadow,  heightened  by  the 
elements  of  mystery  and  fear.  The  swelling  sails  at  the  fore — 
studding-sail  upon  studding-sail  to  the  topgallant  yard-arm,  and 
white  cloths  rounding  and  rising  from  forecourse  to  crowning 
royal — leapt  into  spaces  of  bland,  almost  milk-white  light  to 
the  touch  of  this  atmospheric  radiance,  and  floated  gleaming, 
whilst  the  rest  of  the  brig  from  the  fore-rigging  lay  black  and 
buried  ;  but  very  swiftly  the  whole  vessel  leapt  into  this  mid- 
night effulgent  vision,  and  no  searching  moonlight  could  have 
offered  a  clearer  view  of  her.  Every  man's  shadow  swung  at 
his  feet,  the  atmosphere  was  a  wide  white  gushing,  the  very 
trucks  at  the  lofty  mastheads  shone  out  with  the  dull  light  of 
frosty  silver  buttons.  Aft,  upon  the  quarter-deck,  you  saw  the 
motionless  dark  figures  of  Broadwater  and  the  mate,  standing 
as  though  this  mystical  illumination  possessed  some  hellish 
quality  that  had  blasted  them  into  stirlessness.  The  fellow  at 
the  wheel  gripped  the  spokes  without  a  move  in  his  posture 
that  seemed  to  me  full  of  terror  and  awe.  Many  of  the  crew, 
whilst  our  iibboom  was  yet  penetrating  this  burning  mist,  and 
whilst  the  forecastle  still  lay  in  blackness,  had  jumped  below 
with  sharp  cries  of  alarm,  warning  one  another  to  beware  of 
the  light,  that  it  turned  the  flesh  green,  that  it  was  fatal  to 
those  it  shone  on,  and  the  like.  But  a  few  men  lingered,  though 
when  the  brig  was  fair  in  the  radiance  I  marked  them  in  cower- 
ing attitudes,  one  stooping  low  at  the  windlass  end,  another 
crouching  with  his  arms  against  his  forehead,  a  third  in  a 
posture  of  recoil  at  the  heel  of  the  bowsprit,  as  I  have  seen 
people  terror-stricken  by  a  sudden  dazzling  flash  of  lightning 
The  heave  of  the  sea  was  like  the  swelling  of  a  sheet  of  silveu 


106  ilAltOOXED 

But  in  less  than  three  minutes,  as  nearly  as  I  could  calculate,  I 
marked  the  jibboom  and  jibs  turn  black,  then  the  forecastle 
stole  into  the  midnight  again,  and  preternatural  beyond  ex- 

Eression  was  the  spectacle  of  the  swelling  canvas,  bright  for  a 
reath  to  us  who  stood  in  blackness,  then  vanishing  upon  the 
sight  as  though  the  whole  fabric  had  been  formed  of  star-lighted 
mist  that  had  melted  on  a  sudden.  In  a  few  minutes  the  brig 
was  once  more  sailing  along  in  darkness,  and  the  glorious  arch 
was  over  her  stern,  with  what  was  now  its  left  limb,  viewing  it 
from  the  forecastle,  veering  away  upon  our  larboard  quarter. 


CHAPTEK  XVI 
BROAD-WATER'S  PROPOSAL 

HAD  we  been  a  large  ship  full  of  passengers,  such  an  astonish- 
ing sight  as  a  silver  arch,  self-luminous,  yet  without  power  to 
pale  the  close-lying  stars  with  overflow  of  its  sheen,  spanning  a 
space  of  the  midnight  waters  and  resembling  nothing,  as  I  then 
supposed,  ever  seen  south  of  the  polar  verge  of  the  temperate 
parallels  north  of  the  equator,  would  have  given  us  enough  to 
talk  about  to  serve  to  the  end  of  the  voyage.  But  wonderment 
is  brief  when  its  sphere  of  diffusion  is  slender.  Miss  Grant  and 
I  talked  the  subject  out  promptly,  and  then  there  was  nobody 
left  to  say  more  about  it.  Broadwater,  it  is  true,  at  breakfast 
next  morning  persisted  in  declaring  that  it  was  a  lunar  rain- 
bow ;  though,  had  he  stuck  to  his  first  notion  that  it  was  a 
luminous  mist,  I  am  not  sure  that  his  guess  would  have  been 
far  out. 

'How  are  you  going  to  get  a  lunar  rainbow  without  the 
moon  ? '  I  said. 

'Who  says  that  it  is  to  be  got?'  he  answered.  'The  moon's 
always  somewheres  about,  I  suppose  ;  and  why  shouldn't  she  be 
able  to  chuck  one  of  them  appearances  upon  the  sky  when  she's 
out  of  sight,  just  as  she  do  when  she's  within  view  of  the  eye  ? 
There's  no  call  for  her  to  be  overhead  for  shows  of  that  kina  to 
happen.  I  once  see  a  beautiful  rainbow,  right  over  our  mast- 
heads, a  full  half-hour  after  the  sun  had  gone  down.  You  may 
depend  upon  it  that  there  arch  last  night  was  a  lunar  rainbow.' 

I  liked  him  too  little  to  argue  with  nim,  lover  as  I  am  of  the 
absurd  ideas  of  stupid,  prejudiced,  ignorant  old  sailors.  Besides, 
the  thing  was  a  phenomenon  not  to  be  explained  by  anybody 
aboard  that  brig  at  all  events,  and  to  be  accepted  therefore  as 
one  of  the  many  thrilling  and  beautiful  mysteries  of  old  ocean's 
sombre  or  sunlit  solitudes. 

I  was  not,  however,  a  little  surprised  to  find  that  what  I  had 
deemed  the  mere  passing  depressing  influence  of  the  apparition 
upon  the  spirits  of  Gordon  continued  to  weigh  upon  him.  This 


BROADWATER'S  PROPOSAL  107 

was  made  apparent  when  Broadwater,  after  favouring  us  with 
his  views  on  the  subject  of  lunar  rainbows  and  other  atmo- 
spheric effects,  most  of  which  were  no  doubt  coloured  by  the 
bottle  of  rum  through  which  he  had  inspected  them,  went  on 
deck  that  the  mate  might  get  his  breakfast. 

'Have  any  of  the  hands  turned  green  since  last  night,  Mr. 
Gordon  ? '  said  L 

'  No,  sir,'  he  answered ;  '  most  of  'em  jumped  below,  I  hear, 
t'others  dodged  the  sheen.  They  reckoned  upon  some  of  them 
showing  blighted  though,  when  daylight  came  along ;  and  if 
the  watch  had  turned  out  blue,  let  alone  green,  hang  me,  Mr. 
-Musgrave ! '  he  exclaimed,  hitting  the  table  with  the  nandle  of 
his  knife  to  emphasize  his  language, '  if  I  for  one  should  have 
been  surprised,  for  never  did  a  more  scaring  sight  arise  before 
the  eyes  of  a  sailor.' 

His  subdued  and  dejected  manner  was  more  striking  than  his 
words.  I  glanced  at  Miss  Grant,  whose  fine  eyes  full  of  thought 
were  fastened  upon  his  face. 

'  The  fancy  amongst  the  men,'  she  exclaimed,  'must  have 
arisen  from  the  old  belief  that  the  shining  of  the  moon  full  on 
the  face  of  a  sleeper  distorts  the  features,  and  puts  an  ugly 
colour  into  the  complexion.  The  arch  looked  like  moonshine, 
and  I  suppose  the  sight  made  the  men  so  nervous  that  it  was 
enough  for  one  of  them  to  hint  at  anything  alarming  to  terrify 
the  whole.' 

'I  wish  I'd  never  seen  it,' he  exclaimed ;  'it's  done  me  no  good, 
Miss.' 

'  But  surely,'  cried  I,  wondering  at  him,  for  his  had  always 
seemed  to  me  as  prosaic  a  mind  as  ever  I  met  with  in  a  sailor — 
nor  could  I  forget  his  ridicule  of  the  superstitious  craze  of  the 
man  who  had  drowned  himself  in  the  English  Channel,  '  you  do 
not  want  yourself  to  believe  that  there  is  anything  in  a  mere 
body  of  luminous  vapour,  to  call  it  so,  to  hurt  or  influence  you, 
either  in  body  or  mind  ? ' 

He  shook  his  head  very  despondently :  I  observed  that  he  ate 
little,  though  he  drank  a  quantity  of  tea,  thirstily  and  feverishly. 
*  I'm  a  poor  man,  sir,'  he  exclaimed,  '  but,  so  help  me  Heaven, 
Mr.  Musgrave,  I'd  gladly  have  parted  with  every  shilling  of  my 
savings  sooner  than  that  the  capt'n  should  have  headed  the  brig 
slick  into  that  sliining.  Beg  your  pardon,  Miss,'  he  continued, 
addressing  Miss  Grant  with  a  sudden  eagerness,  '  but  when  ye 
entered  that  light  did  it  feel  cold  to  ye  ? ' 

'  No,'  she  answered,  without  exhibiting  surprise  at  the  question. 

'You,  Mj.  Musgrave — did  it  feel  chilly  like  ?  not  so  much  upon 
your  skin  as  here  ? '  and  he  put  his  hand  to  his  heart. 

'The  only  sensation  I  can  recollect,'  I  answered,  'is  one  of 
delight  at  the  glorious  picture  the  brig  made,  as  she  slowly 
floated  into  the  radiance  out  of  the  blackness,  coating  herself 
with  the  quicksilver  of  it  from  the  truck  to  the  end  of  the 
swinging  boom.' 


108  MAROONED 

He  was  silent,  then  shook  his  head,  and  exclaimed,  'Well, 
mere  fancy,  no  doubt.  It's  all  fancy  in  this  here  world.  With- 
out imagination  there'd  be  nothing  to  hope  for,  nothing  to  b« 
afraid  or.' 

*  There  might  have  been  a  chill  in  the  light,  though  we  enjoyed 
the  picture  too  much  to  be  conscious  of  it,'  said  Miss  Grant, 
talking  to  me  though  speaking  at  Gordon. 

'  The  strangest  part  of  it  was  this.  Miss/  he  said,  looking  at 
her  earnestly.  '  I  felt  it  was  cold  afore  we  entered  it.  'Twas 
that  which  made  me  so  earnest  the  capt'n  should  shift  the 
helium.  I  knew  so  soon  as  ever  I  came  in  contact  with  that 
light  the  bleakness  of  it  would  catch  me  here,'  again  putting 
his  hand  to  his  heart,  *  and  I'd  have  given  all  I'm  worth— all  I'm 
worth,'  the  poor  fellow  ci'ied,  with  a  vehemence  unusual  in  him, 
'  to  have  escaped  it.  Up  to  the  moment  when  the  light  had  slidea 
within  a  foot  of  me  I'd  no  sensation  but  the  fear  of  what  was 
a-coming ;  but  the  moment  it  touched  me  I  felt  the  chilL  There 
was  death  in  it,  sir,  there  was  death  in  it  1  No  man  11  ever 
persuade  me  contrary-wise.' 

He  checked  what  I  was  about  to  say  by  rising  with  an  apolo- 
getic glance  at  the  skylight,  to  let  us  know  he  could  linger  no 
longer,  and  immediately  went  on  deck. 

I  had  so  much  faith  in  the  steadiness  of  Gordon's  intellect 
that  I  could  only  accept  this  odd  posture  in  him  as  due  to  some 
trifling  functional  derangement,  which  a  dose  of  physic  or  a  few 
hours'  rest  would  correct.  Yet  it  gave  Miss  Grant  and  me  some- 
thing to  talk  about.  I  had  some  knowledge  of  sailors  and  their 
superstitions,  and  kept  her  amused  for  an  hour  or  two  with 
stories  of  wizards  of  Finnish  origin,  who  sold  favourable  gales 
of  wind  to  credulous  mariners ;  of  bald  human  heads,  with  little 
laughing  black  eyes  and  capacious  grinning  mouths,  rising  to  the 
surface,  and  terrifying  Jack  by  asking  questions  in  a  tongue 
unknown  to  any  nation  under  the  stars,  and  then  disappearing 
with  a  shriek  of  derisive  laughter ;  of  ghostly  shapes  alighting 
on  the  yard-arms,  and  kindling  corpse-lights  there,  by  whose 
dismal  illumination  the  mariner  could  see  phantom  faces  glim- 
mering out  into  expressions  of  sorrow  and  remorse,  as  though 
grieving  over  the  fateful  missions  on  which  they  had  been 
dispatched. 

However,  though  I  had  no  sympathy  with  the  queer  notions 
which  had  come  into  Gordon's  head,  my  own  misgivings  were  of 
a  kind  which  might  very  well  have  passed  for  a  sort  of  super- 
stition too ;  for  they  kept  me  incessantly  foreboding  disaster, 
though  what  form  it  was  to  take  I  never  could  have  imagined ; 
and  so,  as  you  will  see,  the  mate's  despondency  in  its  way  was 
no  more  deserving  of  ridicule  than  mine.  First  of  all,  I  was 
more  troubled  than  I  was  perhaps  conscious  of,  by  the  recol- 
lection of  the  murder  that  had  been  committed.  It  worried  uie 
mostly  of  nights ;  again  and  again  in  the  darkness  of  my  cabin. 
and  in  the  silence  of  the  long  watches,  when  the  brig  was  sailing 


BROADWATER'S  PROPOSAL  109 

smoothly  forwards,  and  all  was  still  upon  the  sea,  when  nothing 
broke  upon  the  ear  but  the  muffled  washing  of  water  outside, 
and  the  faint  jar  and  creak  of  the  fabric  within,  the  vision  or 
the  mate  as  I  saw  him  when  he  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  com- 
panion-steps with  the  grin  of  death  in  his  moving  and  speech- 
less lips,  his  right  hand  extended,  his  left  hand  dabbling  in  his 
shirt,  that  was  soaked  where  his  fingers  pressed,  with  the  life- 
blood  draining  from  his  heart,  would  rise  before  me  horribly 
distinct,  and  keep  me  rolling  and  tumbling  in  my  bunk,  till 
more  than  once  it  ended  in  my  jumping  up,  lighting  the  lamp, 
and  clothing  myself,  and  killing  a  couple  of  sleepless  hours  with 
-pipes  of  tobacco,  and  a  drain  or  two  from  the  private  stock  in 
the  next  cabin.  Then  again,  as  I  have  before  said,  it  was  a 
cause  of  no  small  consternation  to  me,  secret  as  the  emotion 
was,  to  feel  that  the  man  who  had  committed  this  murder 
moved  freely  about  the  ship,  enjoying  his  liberty  and  the  pro- 
tection of  the  crew,  and  had  all  necessary  leisure  besides  to 
converse  with  the  men,  and  to  influence  them  to  »ny  purpose  he 
might  have  in  his  mind.  Indeed  I  formed  a  darker  opinion  of 
the  sailors  from  their  willing  association  with  the  ruifian,  and 
the  jokes  I  would  hear  them  exchanging  with  him,  than  from 
any  other  sort  of  conduct  I  had  as  yet  witnessed  in  them.  It 
was  un-English — a  harsh,  bad,  jarring  note  in  the  rough  and 
rude  harmony  of  British  forecastle  life  j  and  this  feature  of  our 
shipboard  existence  was  the  uglier  to  my  mind  for  the  man 
being  a  foreigner.  Such  half-bloods  as  this  Charles,  at  best,  are  a 
people  alongside  whom  our  Jacks  do  not  much  care  to  sling  their 
hammocks  nor  eat  out  of  the  same  kid  with ;  but  in  addition 
to  this  man's  deformity  of  breed  was  his  proved  quality  as  a 
'  knifer ' — a  characteristic  unpleasantly  common  to  those  skins, 
and  half  the  secret  at  least  of  the  aversion  they  inspire  in 
English  crews.  Detestable  as  Bothwell  had  been  as  a  man,  the 
crime  of  his  murder  was  more  to  be  abhorred  even  than  he  ;  and 
I  say  it  worked  in  me  like  a  superstition  to  see  his  assassin 
coming  and  going  about  the  decks,  fetching  his  meals  from  the 
caboose  along  with  the  others,  singing  out  at  the  ropes,  or  hail- 
ing from  aloft  in  the  voice  of  a  lively  hearty — but  always  with 
the  same  sharp,  stabbing  gleam  in  his  eyes  whenever  he  turned 
them  upon  Broadwater — and  making  a  part  of  the  brig's  honest 
routine,  when  his  proper  lodging  was  the  forepeak,  his  fit  equip- 
ment the  bilboes,  and  his  rightful  condition  the  completest 
practicable  isolation  from  his  shipmates. 

These  and  twenty  more  such  thoughts  were  in  my  mind  after 
Miss  Grant  had  withdrawn  to  her  berth,  and  whilst  I  remained 
alone  watching  the  shambling  figure  of  the  cabin-boy  stripping 
the  cabin-table,  with  a  hungry  goggling  of  his  eyes  at  the 
remains  of  the  meal,  as  he  staggered  up  the  hatchway  with  the 
dishes.  I  was  mechanically  rolling  a  cigar  between  my  fingers. 
with  the  intention  of  lighting  it  and  going  on  deck,  when  Broad- 
water  came  below.  I  supposed  he  would  pass  to  his  cabin,  for, 


110  MAROONEC 

now  that  he  divided  the  look-out  with  Gordon,  he  was  very 

Sunctual  in  going  to  bed  when  it  came  to  his  turn  to  quit  the 
eck.  Instead,  he  halted,  took  a  survey  of  the  cabin  as  if  to 
make  sure  that  we  were  alone,  and  then  came  and  sat  down 
near  me. 

'Mr.  Musgrave,'  said  he,  speaking  with  hesitation  and 
awkwardly,  '  I  knew  that  you  was  at  sea  as  a  youth,  sir ;  but 
I  wasn't  aware,  till  Mr.  Gordon  just  now  told  me,  that  you 
considered  yourself  equal  to  taking  charge  of  the  deck  and 
navigating  a  craft.' 

I  looked  at  him,  wondering  what  was  in  his  mind. 

'  I  hope,'  he  continued,  '  you'll  find  nothing  offensive  in  what 
I'm  about  to  observe.  The  fact's  this.  Now  that  my  mate's 
overboard,  there's  no  man  but  me  in  this  here  brig,  barring 
yourself,  with  knowledge  enough  of  the  quadrant  to  know  what 

Fart  to  put  his  eye  at,  if  so  be  he  should  need  to  use  it.  Now,  if 
should  fall  sick,  who  is  there,  onless  it  be  you,  sir,  who'd  be 
able  to  carry  on  the  navigation  of  this  here  brig?  Gordon 
tells  me  that  you  yourself  said  to  him  a  short  while  ago  you'd 
be  willing,  if  asked,  to  take  a  mate's  berth  aboard  of  me.  Now, 
Mr.  Musgrave,  what  d'ye  say  ?  Gordon's  agreeable  to  fall  back 
into  his  old  spear,  and  if  you'll  take  his  place  as  mate,  sir,  I 
should  be  glad,  very  glad  indeed  ;  though  of  course  I  won't  say 
nothing  about  remooneration,  that  being  a  matter  you  might 
afterwards  settle  with  the  owner.' 

'  I  am  obliged  to  you  for  your  offer,'  said  L  'I  certainly  did 
say  something  to  Gordon  about  being  willing  to  lend  a  hand  in 
the  navigation  of  the  brig,  should  my  services  in  that  way  ever 
be  required ;  but  as  to  taking  a  post  of  command  over  your 

crew '  I  shook  my  head.  '  I  don't  like  their  attitude.  I  don't 

like  the  idea  of  your  mate's  murderer  being  an  large ;  I  don't 
like  to  think  that  there's  any  body  of  English  sailors  who  can 
not  only  protect  but  remain  friends  with  a  naif -blood,  a  foreign 
miscreant,  whose  knife,  in  my  humble  opinion,  is  as  ready  for 
another  man's  heart  as  it  was  for  Mr.  Bothwell's.' 

*  Ay,'  said  he  hoarsely,  leaning  towards  me  with  a  look  at  the 
skylight,  and  then  at  the  hatch,  '  that's  just  it.  Ye've  hit  it  true 
as  a  hair.  It's  more  because  I  want  to  feel  that  we're  stronger 
than  we  are  aft  than  because  I  may  fall  sick  that  I'd  be  glad  to 
see  you  mate,  first  or  second,  as  you  may  elect.  I  don't  mind 
telling  you,'  he  continued,  in  the  same  hoarse,  subdued  voice,  and 
with  another  look  up  and  around, '  that  the  aspect  of  the  present 
biling  don't  sit  pleasingly  upon  my  eyes,  sir.  Ye  heard  what 
Gordon  said  that  night  of  the  murder,  when  he  came  down — how 
the  half-blood  'ud  do  for  me  too  if  I  didn't  keep  a  bright  look-out. 
Well,  I  tell  you,  I've  learnt  to  fear  that  man.  I  don't  like  his 
looks.  I  met  his  eye  just  now,  and  it  was  like  the  snap  of  a 
musket  at  me.  I  haven't  said  much  about  it,  in  fact  I  haven't 
said  anything;  and  maybe  it's  weighed  the  more  upon  me  'cause 
I  kept  myself  shut  up  on  the  subject.  But  it's  a  long  way  to  Bio 


BROAD  WATER'S  PROPOSAL  111 

yet,  sir,  and  my  fenr  of  what  that  man's  capable  of  is  a  weight 
that  I  must  chuck  over  the  side  somehow  or  other.  My  notion 
is,  then,  that  if  you  took  the  mate's  berth  ^the  men  'ud  like  it, 
you  being  a  gentleman.  They'd  feel  your  influence  after  a  bit, 
and  by  expressing  of  your  feelings  to  them  in  the  sort  of  language 
that  my  neglected  education  as  a  boy  keeps  me  as  a  man 
a-falling  short  of,  they  might  grow  ashamed  of  their  protection 
of  the  half-blood,  and  be  willing  to  let  us  clap  him  in  irons, 
when  of  course  I  should  be  able  to  sleep  sound  again,  and  enjoy 
my  meals  with  the  old  satisfaction.' 

He  looked  at  me  with  a  mixture  of  eagerness  and  cunning  in 
his  little  eves.  I  did  not  need  to  reflect,  for  whilst  he  had  been 
speaking  I  had  made  up  my  mind. 

'  I  thank  you  for  your  good  opinion  of  me,'  said  I ;  '  I  cannot 
accept  any  such  post  as  you  propose.  'Twas  a  mere  fancy 
tossed  to  the  bo'sun  in  the  course  of  a  talk,  with  no  wish  or 
resolution  in  it  at  all ;  but,  though  I  decline  your  offer,  you  will 
of  course  understand  that  I  am  quite  prepared  to  support  you 
in  any  time  of  trouble  ;  always  presuming,'  I  added  significantly, 
'that  the  authority  you  exercise,  but  which  may  be  resisted, 
is  fair,  legitimate,  and  consistent  with  regular  sea-duties.' 

'  Have  ye  got  any  weapons  of  your  own  ? '  he  asked,  with 
another  look  up  and  around. 

'  Yes,'  I  answered. 

'  What  are  they,  sir  ? ' 

4  A  brace  of  pistols,'  said  L 

4  Any  hammunition  ? ' 

4 Ay,' I  replied,  smiling,  'enough  to  send  ten  times  the  number 
of  your  crew  to  their  account.' 

*  That's  all  right,'  said  he  :  '  I'm  armed  too,  armed  enough  to 
be  able  to  sarve  out  whats  needful  to  Gordon,  and  to  have 
enough  left  for  myself  and  more,  if  we  can  get  others  to  help 
us.  Would  you  mind  doing  this,  sir  ? — get  in  with  the  men  in 
a  proper  sort  of  condescending  way,  so  as  there  could  be  nothing 
bemeaning  in  the  thing  to  a  gent  of  your  spirit,  and  find  out 
if  there's  e  er  a  man  forward  who  is  to  be  trusted  to  stand  by  and 
look  on,  should  you  and  me  and  Gordon  arrange  to  rush  the  job.' 

'  I  don't  fully  understand,'  said  L 

'Well,  I'll  tell  ye,'  he  exclaimed,  with  his  eyes  very  full  of 
cunning  and  eagerness,  'the  notion  that's  come  into  my  head's 
this :  if  we  could  count  on  so  many  of  the  men  standing  aloof, 
should  it  come  to  a  melhee,  then  for  the  safety  of  all  consarned 
I  should  propose  that  you  and  nie  and  Gordon  should  arm 
ourselves,  have  the  handcuffs  ready,  fall  upon  and  secure  the 
half-blood  when  no  man  could  suspect  our  intentions,  drag  him 
aft  and  lock  him  up  down  here,  and  with  our  pistols  keep  any 
of  the  crew  off  who  should  attempt  a  rescue.' 

'The  scheme  is  practicable,'  said  I,  after  a  little,  'but  it 
requires  consideration.  At  the  first  sight  I  don't  half  like  it.  J 
see  your  difficulty — I  clearly  perceive  that  unless  this  half-blood 


112  MAROONED 

be  secured  and  removed  from  all  intercourse  with  the  crew, 
diabolical  mischief  may  follow.  I  realize  this  :  that  at  one  end 
of  the  ship  is  a  murderer,  at  the  other  end  a  man  who  is  only 
waiting  to  get  him  to  Kio  to  hang  him.'  He  nodded  vehemently. 
*  He  knows  that,  and  the  question  is,  is  he  going  to  give  you  the 
chance  to  hang  him  ? ' 

'  That's  the  question  ! '  he  cried,  bringing  his  fist  down  heavily 
upon  the  table. 

'  Yes,'  I  exclaimed,  '  and  it  has  haunted  me  pretty  smartly  of 
late,  I  can  assure  you.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  a  melhee,  as  you 
call  it, — this  project  of  seizing  the  half-blood  and  threatening 
the  sailors  with  our  small-arms, — might,  indeed  it  would,  end  in 
rank,  staring,  hellish  mutiny.  What  then  would  you  do  t  There 
are  but  three  of  us  against  the  whole  ship's  company.  The 
safety  of  the  lady  who  is  on  board  this  vessel  under  my  pro- 
tection is  my  first  consideration.  It  would  be  a  poor  look-out 
to  set  fire  to  a  ship  in  order  to  get  rid  of  a  rat.  It  would  be  an 
equally  poor  look-out  to  excite  the  men  into  wild  revolt  against 
the  three  of  us,  to  the  imperilling  of  the  life  and  honour  of  Miss 
Grant,  for  all  we  dare  predict,  simply  that  your  mind  may  be 
eased  by  having  the  half-blood  under  lock  and  key.' 

'Then  what's  to  be  done?'  he  exclaimed  coarsely,  and  in  a 
defiant,  quarrelsome  way.  '  The  safety  of  the  brig  depends  upon 
me,  and  if  harm  befalls  me,  what's  to  become  of  her,  and  you, 
and  the  lady  you're  so  consarned  about — and  unwisely  con- 
sarned about  in  my  opinion,  for,  by  not  helping  me,  you'll  be 
chancing  to  let  her  go  adrift.' 

'I  have  told  you,  Captain  Broad  water,' said  I,  greatly  disliking 
this  sudden  change  of  manner  in  him,  for  I  had  met  his  sugges- 
tion in  a  very  earnest  spirit,  'that  in  a  time  of  extremity, 
which  shall  not — understand  me — have  been  brought  about  by 
any  act  of  cruelty  and  brutality  on  your  part,  I  will  support 
you  and  Mr.  Gordon  heart  and  soul.  But  I  cannot  accept  the 
duties  you  ask  me  to  undertake,  nor  do  I  see  my  way  to  offering 
to  help  you  in  any  wild  scheme  of  seizing  the  half-blood,  under 
cover  of  the  muzzles  of  our  pistols,  with  perhaps  the  obligation 
of  having  to  shoot  down  one  or  more  of  your  crew,  to  the 
assured  end  of  raising  a  murderous  spirit  amongst  the  men.  and 
exciting  them  into  God  knows  what  act  of  terrible  mutiny. 

As  I  said  this,  Miss  Grant  came  from  her  berth.  I  made  a 
gesture  to  him  to  signify  that  no  more  must  be  said  now ;  on 
which  he  rose  and  went  to  his  cabin.  She  looked  at  me 
earnestly,  but  was  silent.  I  handed  her  up  the  companion- 
ladder,  lighted  a  cigar,  and  followed.  The  morning  was  deli- 
ciously  fine.  There  was  a  pleasant  breeze  a  little  abaft  the  beam, 
which  enabled  the  brig  to  show  her  lower  studding-sail  to  it,  and 
under  broad  wings  packed  to  the  trucks,  the  little  vessel  glided 
crisply  over  a  sea  of  blue,  the  beautiful  dark  dye  of  which  at 
the  horizon  seemed  to  tincture  the  line  of  the  sky,  bending 
down  past  it  into  an  opalescent  shimmer  through  contrast  of 


BROADWATER'S  PROPOSAL  113 

the  sapphire  sweep  with  the  azure  faintness  behind  it.  The 
decks  were  dryana  white,  with  a  crystalline  sparkling  of  salt 
about  them.  There  was  a  short  awning  just  abaft  the  skylight, 
and  our  deck-chairs  were  under  it ;  but  the  sun  was  not  yet 
high,  the  wind  blew  sweet  and  cool  over  the  rail ;  life  was 
stirred  to  her  innermost  sources  by  the  freshness  of  the  morn- 
ing, and  to  sit  would  have  been  to  forfeit  half  the  delights  of 
this  radiant  day.  On  our  quarter,  steering  north,  was  a 
brigantine,  toy -like  in  the  distance ;  the  sunlight  flashed  an 
ivory  whiteness  on  her  windward  canvas,  whilst  the  violet 
shadowing  on  the  leeward  cloths  made  them  look  to  be  melting 
OP  the  airy  blue  beyond.  There  was  a  spot  of  colour  in  her 
rigging,  and  Gordon,  from  the  other  side,  called  out  to  me  that 
she  was  a  Dane.  There  was  nothing  else  in  sight,  and  the 
mighty  stretch  of  water,  under  the  dazzle  of  the  soaring  sun, 
lookea  the  vaster  for  that  fairy-like  fabric  upon  it. 

I  threw  a  swift  glance  along  our  decks,  and  noticed  that  the 
men  worked  quietly  upon  their  various  jobs.  A  couple  of  them 
were  busy  on  some  chafing-gear  in  the  fore-rigging  ;  a  spun-yarn 
winch  was  rattling  on  the  forecastle ;  and  the  half-blood,  Charles, 
with  his  back  upon  us,  dressed  in  blue  dungaree,  a  red  cap  on 
his  head,  and  chocolate-coloured  shanks  bare  to  the  knees,  was 
balling  up  the  stuff  as  it  was  manufactured.  The  cook  was 
standing  in  the  door  of  his  little  galley,  smoking  a  sooty  pipe, 
his  naked  arms  folded  upon  his  breast,  watching  the  cabin-boy 
close  by  washing  some  plates  and  dishes  in  a  tub.  High  aloft 
on  the  fore-royal-yard  stood  the  figure  of  a  man,  who  had  paused 
in  some  work  he  was  upon  up  there  to  stand  erect  with  his  hand 
on  the  truck,  and  the  sharp  of  his  other  hand  over  his  eyes, 
whilst  he  gazed  into  the  immeasurable  distance  visible  to  him 
from  that  altitude.  The  tall,  muscular  seaman,  Terence  Mole, 
was  at  the  helm,  his  hands  carelessly  gripping  the  spokes  of  the 
wheel,  his  attitude  full  of  that  indefinable,  floating  ease  that 
enters  as  a  sort  of  grace  into  the  posture  and  movements  of  the 
true  deep-water  sailor.  All  these  were  details  to  fill  my  eye  in 
a  breath  ;  and  on  the  surface  the  picture  was  so  homely,  there 
seemed  so  much  salt,  plain  honesty  in  the  complexion,  quality, 
aspect  of  the  full  scene,  that  my  instant  recurrence  to  what  but 
a  little  while  before  had  passed  between  the  captain  and  myself, 
affected  me  as  an  unreality,  as  something  that  I  had  imagined, 
as  an  affront  to  the  truth  of  this  quiet,  inboard  picture,  and  to 
the  high,  wide,  refreshing  splendour  through  which  our  little 
craft  was  softly  pushing. 

When  we  emerged  from  the  cabin,  Miss  Grant  made  some 
commonplace  remark  about  the  beauty  of  the  morning ;  but  we 
had  scarcely  measured  half  the  length  of  the  deck  when,  looking 
at  me  wistfully  and  searchingly  also,  she  exclaimed, '  What  has 
happened  to  worry  you,  Mr.  Musgrave  ? ' 

4 1  must  look  worried,  I  suppose '  I  answered,  smiling,  *  or  you 
would  not  ask  the  question.' 


114  MAROONED 

*  You  do,  indeed.  It  is  some  anxiety  that  concerns  this  royage, 
of  course.  Thei*e  can  be  nothing  else,  for  there  are  no  postmen 
here  to  bring  you  disagreeable  news ;  at  least  I  hope  the  cause 
lies  in  the  voyage,'  she  added.  *  If  it  do,  mil  you  tell  me  what 
it  1st' 

Now  my  immediate  impulse  was  to  answer  her  evasively ; 
but  on  meeting  her  gaze,  I  observed  so  much  fearlessness  in  it, 
so  much  clear  and  keen  intelligence,  along  with  so  direct  a 
challenge  to  me  to  be  plain  with  her  or  not  speak  at  all,  and 
so  unmistakable  an  assurance  besides  of  a  guess  that  had  al- 
ready carried  her  half-way  into  the  truth,  that  I  said  to  myself 
with  the  swiftness  of  one  who  thinks,  '  Why  not  be  perfectly 
candid  with  this  woman  f  The  wit  and  instincts  of  her  sex 
may  help  me.' 

She  kept  her  gaze  fastened  upon  me,  and  seemed  to  read  my 
thoughts.  She  said,  with  a  little  smile  very  full  of  pride, 
'  Do  you  know,  Mr.  Musgrave,  if  Alexander  ever  had  a  doubt, 
lie  would  come  to  me  to  settle  it  for  him.  I  am  fond  of  pro- 
blems. If  I  were  a  man,  I  should  wish  to  be  a  politician  above 
all  things.  I  should  love  to  be  in  a  position  where  my  judgment 
would  be  constantly  tested,  and  where  I  should  have  to  act 
quickly.  What  is  best  in  the  sailor's  character  springs  from 
this  habit.  He  is  incessantly  confronted  by  surprises,  many  of 
them  tragical,  all  of  them  requiring  instant  resolution.'  She 
preserved  her  smile,  still  continuing  to  look  at  ma  I  suspected 
she  talked  to  give  me  time  to  think. 

'My  anxiety,'  said  I,  'concerns  our  position  on  board  this 
vessel — your  position  chiefly.  What  could  offer  a  more  peaceful 
picture  than  these  decks  ?  How  softly  the  shadows  sway !  The 
men  are  working  as  quietly  as  if  the  whole  gladness  of  the 
morning  were  in  them  ;  and  yet,  since  you  wish  to  know  the 
truth,  Miss  Grant,  I  should  say  that  if  these  planks  were  grow- 
ing insufferably  hot  from  fire  below — raging,  but  as  yet  con- 
cealed— our  outlook  would  be  more  distinctly  satisfactory  to 
my  mind  than  it  is  now,  staunch  as  the  brig  is,  quiet  as  these 
fellows  seem,  calm  and  glowing  as  the  whole  picture  all  about 
us  shows.' 

She  threw  a  glance  around  her,  and  said  quietly,  'What  has 
occurred  to  put  these  thoughts  into  you  ? ' 

I  came  to  a  halt,  our  faces  fronting  the  forecastle,  and  indi- 
cating the  half-blood  by  a  movement  of  my  head,  I  said,  'That 
fellow  there  knows  that  on  the  arrival  of  this  brig  be  must  lie 
hanged,  or  in  some  other  manner  dispatched  for  the  murder  of 
Mr.  Bothwell.  He  also  knows  that  the  man  who  is  resting  in 
the  cabin  under  our  feet  means  to  get  him  killed  for  his  crime.' 
The  half-blood  turned  his  head  at  this  moment,  and  we  resumed 
our  walk.  '  Yoti  say  you  are  fond  of  problems.  Here  is  one  for 
vou.  That  fellow  forward  has  the  sympathies  of  the  whole  crew, 
lie  has  more :  he  hits  their  protection,  and  they  will  not  allow  a 
linger  to  be  laid  upon  Wn».  Aft  is  a  captain  who  stands  alone.' 


BROADWATER'S  PROPOSAL  11* 

*The  problem,  Mr.  Musgrave  ? ' 

1  How  is  Captain  Broad  water  to  sail  the  ship  to  Rio,  and  set 
you  and  me  sately  ashore  there,  with  yonder  olive-coloured  villain 
closely  and  intimately  associated  with  the  crew — popular  amongst 
them  as  the  hero  who  freed  them  from  the  tyranny  of  the  mate — 
conscious,  maybe,  of  their  willingness  to  help  him  save  his  life, 
which  he  knows  must  be  forfeited  on  the  arrival  of  the  brig  1 ' 

'What  do  you  fear?' 

'That  Master  Ernest  Charles  yonder  will  contrive  that  this 
brig  shall  never  reach  her  port.' 

'By  what  means?' 
'  'Ha  !'  said  I,  'there  it  is,^Miss  Grant.' 

She  threw  another  swift  glance  ai'ound  her,  and  slightly 
knitted  her  brows.  'Can  we  not  contrive  to  find  out  what 
Captain  Broad  water  thinks  ? '  she  said. 

I  exactly  repeated  my  conversation  with  him  in  the  cabin. 
She  listened  until  I  had  made  an  end,  and  then  said  quickly, 
'  Mr.  Musgrave,  if  you  will  be  advised  by  me,  you  will  take  no 
part  in  any  scheme  the  captain  may  decide  upon  as  regards 
the  discipline  of  the  vessel.  The  men  know  that  they  have 
your  sympathies,  and  should  trouble  come,  they  will — at  least 
they  may — remember  that  you  were  their  friend.  But  what 
would  be  the  result  of  your  siding  with  the  captain,  helping  him 
to  put  that  wretched  creature  yonder  in  irons,  perhaps  being 
obliged  in  self-defence  to  shoot  one  of  the  crew  ?  We  have  a 
right  to  think  of  our  safety.  Captain  Broad  water  has  imperilled 
it  by  his  treatment  of  the  men,  and  I  say  we  have  a  right.  Mr. 
Musgrave,  to  think  of  ourselves.  My  advice  is,  be  neutral. 

I  dare  say  I  was  the  more  impressed  by  what  she  said,  because 
of  her  having  given  prompt  and  clear  expression  to  my  own 
secret  opinions.  The  judgment  that  concurs  with  our  own 
must  be,  of  course,  very  shrewd  and  sagacious.  But  I  could  also 
find  a  good  deal  to  admire  in  the  quickness  with  which  she  had 
seen  into  the  thing,  and  the  accuracy  of  her  insight.  For,  after 
all,  it  only  needed  a  little  thought  to  enable  me  to  conclude,  that 
as  Gordon  hardly  seemed  a  man  to  prove  serviceable  in  a  crisis 
— being  j  ust  a  plain,  sober,  slow-minded  sailor,  whose  tastes  were 
altogether  forward,  and  who  in  his  heart  loved  the  captain  as 
little  as  the  others — the  main  burden  of  Broadwater's  project 
must  be  borne  by  him  and  me  ;  that  a  conflict  between  us  and 
the  crew  must  inevitably  end  in  our  defeat,  and  perhaps  in  our 
destruction,  for  the  sight  of  a  levelled  pistol  would  serve,  as 
a  wand  in  the  hand  of  a  wizard,  to  raise  the  foulest  of  evil 
spirits  among  the  people  of  the  brig ;  and  that  if  I  were  not 
slaughtered  outright  in  the  struggle  with  the  men,  they  would 
extend  their  hatred  of  the  captain  to  me  in  an  equal  measure, 
so  that,  in  a  word,  I  should  be  practically  helpless  as  a  protector 
in  any  form  or  fashion  for  Miss  Grant.  Indeed,  this  was  the 
essential  meaning  of  her  ad  vice  tome — her  en  treaty  almost ;  yet 
I  thought  I  would  sound  her  womanly  judgment  a  little  farther. 

I  2 


Ufl  MAROONED 

'You  are  perfectly  right,  and  I  shall  be  guided  by  you.  But 
suppose  the  captain  should  be  set  upon  by  the  men — I  mean 
treacherously — without  furnishing  them  with  an  inch  of  honest 
justification,  would  not  it  be  my  duty  as  well  as  my  policy 
to  stand  by  him  ? ' 

'  But  is  he  likely  to  be  set  upon  unless  he  provokes  them  ?  And 
judging  from  what  we  have  seen,  if  he  provokes  them,  will  he 
not  deserve  the  treatment  he  may  receive  at  their  hands  ? '  she 
answered,  with  a  flash  of  indignation  in  her  look  which  gave  mo 
to  know  that  old  Broadwater  must  expect  no  commiseration 
from  her,  happen  what  might. 

'I  am  heartily  sorry,'  said  I,  with  a  smile  which  instantly 
brought  the  light  of  one  into  her  face,  though  my  own  grin  was 
pure  admiration  without  the  faintest  flavour  of  mirth  ;  for  her 
beauty  showed  rich  just  then  to  the  mood  excited  in  her  by  our 
conversation,  and  admiration  will  often  make  a  man  smile  as 
though  he  had  a  joke  in  his  head  when,  God  knows,  his  heart  may 
be  full  of  mirthless  emotion, — '  I  am  heartily  sorry  that  I  was  ever 
at  sea  as  a  sailor.  Were  I  a  landsman  making  my  first  voyage,  I 
should  find  little  or  nothing  to  worry  me  in  what  has  happened  : 
particularly  now  that  the  roll  of  the  commotion  is  smoothed 
out.  and  everything,'  I  added,  with  a  look  along  the  peaceful 
decks,  '  is  as  placid  on  the  surface  as  the  waters  of  a  canal.' 

'A  little  patience,  Mr.  Musgrave!'  she  exclaimed.  'Rio  is 
closer  than  it  was  a  fortnight  ago.'  I  was  not  so  sure  of  that, 
but  I  said  nothing.  'At  all  events,'  she  continued,  'we  must 
take  care  that  you  return  home  in  a  good  ship,  with  a  pleasant 
captain.' 

*  Yes,'  said  I, '  we  must  see  to  that.' 

'Alexander  will  be  able  to  advise  you,'  she  said,  with  a 
softening  of  her  voice  to  the  utterance  of  his  name.  'He  is 
sure  to  know  of  a  good  ship,  one  that  might  be  quite  worth 
waiting  for  if  she  is  not  at  Rio.' 

'  Confound  Alexander  ! '  I  thought  to  myself,  and  her  way  of 
speaking  of  him  so  teased  me,  that  it  would  have  soothed  the 
momentary  irritation  to  have  told  her  that  I  heartily  wished  he 
stood  in  my  boots  on  board  this  brig.  But  a  glance  at  her 
made  me  feel  that  the  expression  of  such  a  wish  would  have 
been  preposterously  insincere.  No  ;  our  situation  was  uncom- 
monly dark  and  uncomfortable :  no  man  knowing  the  truth 
would  have  dared  venture  to  predict  that  to-morrow  would  find 
us  as  we  were  to-day ;  and  still  my  enjoyment  of  her  society 
topped  every  risk  I  could  contemplate  ;  and  how  detestable  the 

E  reject  of  our  association  coming  to  an  end  was  to  me,  I  knew 
y  my  inward  perturbation  that  followed  on  her  speaking  of 
Alexander,  and  his  choosing  me  a  good  ship  to  return  in. 

An  hour  passed.  Our  conversation  was  chiefly  about  the 
crew,  and  the  outlook  they  threatened,  and  again  and  again  she 
advised  me  not  to  entertain  any  scheme  old  Broadwater  might 
submit*  but  to  view  myself  wholly  aa  a  passenger,  without 


BROADWATER'S  PROPOSAL  117 

further  concern  in  the  voyage  than  its  conclusion.  She  then, 
feeling  tired,  took  a  chair  under  the  awning  and  put  a  book 
upon  ner  knee,  but  seemed  to  have  no  eyes  for  anything  but 
the  crew,  whom  she  watched  curiously,  as  might  an  artist  who 
gazes  for  effects  of  colour,  posture,  and  expression.  All  this 
while  Gordon  trudged  the  weather-deck  alone.  I  now  crossed 
over  to  him. 

'  Feel  more  cheerful  by  this  time,  I  hope,  Mr.  Gordon  ? '  said  I ; 
'a  man's  spirits  must  be  gloomy  indeed  that  don't  brighten  out 
to  such  a  day  as  this.' 

He  forced  a  grin,  and  said,  '  Worrit,  sir,  worrit ;  there's  no 
accounting  for  a  man's  feelings.  I  wish  it  'ud  come  on  to  blow. 
This  here  smiling  kind  of  weather  is  all  very  well  when  ye  ain't 
in  a  hurry ;  but  when  ye've  got  bows  forrard  like  the  head  of  a 
puncheon,  and  beam  enough  for  a  score  of  fandangoes  'twixt  the 
rails,  without  call  to  stop  even  a  coil  of  halliards  to  the  standing 
rigging  to  get  more  room,  then  what  one  wants  is  the  relieving- 
tackles  hauled  taut,  and  two  chaps  sweating  at  the  wheel,  and 
the  spritsail-yard  out  of  sight  in  the  smother  over  the  bows.' 

'  You're  in  as  great  a  hurry  as  Miss  Grant,'  I  exclaimed. 

'  Greater,  I  dessay,'  he  exclaimed.  '  To  tell  ye  the  truth,  Mr. 
Musgrave,  I'm  sick  of  the  voyage.  None  of  these  here  small 
brigs  for  me  again,  sir.  Never  no  more !  Nothen  less  than  a 
thousand  ton.  A  man's  nature  seems  able  to  stand  upright 
when  he's  aboard  a  big  ship ;  in  these  here  small  craft  it's  all 
stooping  for  fear  of  knocking  your  brains  out.' 

There  was  a  sour  expression  on  his  face  which  strictly  corre- 
sponded with  the  sentiment  and  note  of  his  grumbling.  I  said 
to  him,  'Gordon,  an  odd  thought  came  into  my  head  just  now. 
Notice  the  half-blood  yonder.  He's  a  clearer  menace  to  our 
safety  than  an  auger  working  through  the  ship's  bottom.  Now 
what  think  you  of  the  scheme  of  the  captain — of  you  and  me 
arming  ourselves  with  loaded  pistols,  springing  upon  him  un- 
awares, handcuffing  him,  and  dragging  him  aft  under  cover  of 
the  muzzles  of  our  small  arms  ? ' 

'  What  do  I  think  of  it,  sir  T  he  exclaimed,  without  a  moment's 
hesitation. 

'  Yes,'  I  rejoined. 

c  This,'  said  he.  '  If  there's  any  gunpowder  aboard,  better  knock 
the  head  off  a  barrel  and  snap  one  of  your  pistols  into  it,  and 
blow  the  whole  blooming  mess  of  us  to  heaven.  But  you're  not 
serious  ? ' 

'No,  no,'  said  I;  'certainly  not.  Mere  fancy,  and  nothing 
more.  But  not  to  your  liking,  evidently.' 

'  Good  God  ! '  he  exclaimed, '  at  the  first  offer  to  touch  Charles, 
pistol  or  no  pistol,  the  whole  crew  'ud  be  on  ye  like  one  man. 
They'd  like  the  scheme.  It's  the  sort  of  chance  they're  waiting 
for.  For  Heaven's  sake,  don't  go  and  suggest  your  notion  to  the 
capt'n,  sir.  He's  just  the  sort  of  man  to  euierUiu  it,  and  to 
come  and  ask  me  to  help  him.' 


118  MAROONED 

'Would  you  help  him  f '  said  I. 

'Let  him  ask  me  first,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  he  replied,  with  an  odd 
look  at  me  out  of  the  corner  of  his  eyes.  If  this  was  not  news, 
'twas  what  I  needed  to  get  from  his  lips.  Even  had  Miss 
Grant's  advice  not  already  settled  my  mind,  Gordon's  askant 
glance,  that  was  more  eloquent  than  words,  would  have  decided 
me  out  of  hand,  there  and  then.  In  truth  it  could  but  prove  as 
I  had  foreseen,  should  I  consent  to  help  the  captain ;  and  1 
remember  that  I  let  out  my  breath  in  a  half -wild  sigh  of  relief 
over  the  determination  I  had  formed  as  I  turned  from  Gordon 
to  take  a  chair  at  Miss  Grant's  side. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

WE  LOSE  THE  CABIX-BOY 

Two  mornings  after  this,  on  going  on  deck  shortly  before  the 
breakfast-hour,  I  found  the  weather  changed.  The  high  sun,  the 
blue  skies  which  had  shone  over  us  now  for  many  days  together, 
were  gone.  The  atmosphere  was  gloomy,  with  a  pale  thickness 
that  brought  the  sea-line  to  within  cannon-shot.  Under  the 
lead-coloured  gloom  over  the  mastheads  one  could  dimly  catch 
sight  here  and  there  of  a  black  curl  of  scud-like  cloud  blowing 
leisurely  athwart  our  track  ;  otherwise  there  was  no  break,  no 
shadowed  curve  or  line  to  tell  of  a  denser  or  darker  vapour  yet 
above  the  warm  and  sallow  haze  through  which  the  wind  was 
sweeping  without  dispersing  it.  The  sea  ran  in  a  slopping  sort 
of  way  that  made  a  great  noise  about  the  brig's  sides  with  notes 
of  hollow  plashing,  the  slap  of  a  leap  of  water  seething  to  its 
own  recoil,  the  short  small  roar  of  billows  overspringing  some 
backward  scend  ahead  of  them,  like  the  groaning  of  surf  tumb- 
ling in  snow  to  the  hidden  drag  of  the  undertow.  You  would 
have  thought  there  was  a  strong  windward  tide  running ;  yet 
with  all  this  briskness  of  surface  play,  I  never  saw  the  ocean 
wear  a  sulkier  look.  The  glorious  sparkling  blue  of  its  brine 
was  gone ;  'twas  now  of  a  cold,  sallowish  green,  thick  and 
muddy  with  every  heave;  as  though  under  its  heads  of  foam, 
and  the  short,  conflicting  runs  of  its  small  seas,  it  had  been 
thickened  into  sluggishness  by  upheaval  of  ooze  into  its  volume. 

The  atmosphere  was  like  a  tepid  bath,  and  the  brig  was  damp 
with  it  from  her  loftiest  cloths  to  the  deck  from  which  I  sur- 
veyed the  scene.  She  was  under  all  plain  sail,  the  yards  braced 
forward,  but  the  studding-sail-booms  were  still  rigged  out, 
which  was  perhaps  as  good  as  saying  that  old  Broadwater 
found  notlung  more  in  the  weather  that  had  come  down 
upon  us  than  was  visible  to  the  bare  eye.  She  was  pushing 
through  it  dully,  and  tumbling  uncomfortably,  in  a  most 
sickening  way  indeed  ;  insomuch,  that  for  the  first  tiuie  during 


WE  LOSE  THE  CABIN-BOY  110 

thia  voyage  I  felt  absolutely  uneasy,  though  the  fresh  air 
speedily  relieved  me  of  the  disagreeable  oppression.  There 
was  no  weight  of  surge,  and  yet  she  could  not  have  flopped 
about  more  drunkenly  had  a  strong  sea  been  running.  First 
she  would  give  a  sharp  dip  forward ;  but  before  she  could  put 
her  round  nose  well  into  it,  a  trough  would  suddenly  yawn  under 
her  counter,  and  oblige  her  to  drop  her  stern  sharply,  and  with 
a  souse  that  would  send  a  large  dark-green,  glass-clear  curl  of 
water  thundering  into  foam  away  from  her  quarter  •  an  instant 
after  she  would  tumble  to  windward,  as  though  collecting  her 
energies  for  a  good  heel  over  to  t'other  side ;  but  whilst  you 
-  postured  yourself  for  the  slope  of  the  deck,  she  would  recover 
herself  with  a  jerk  that  made  you  stagger  again.  I  had  never 
heard  so  much  groaning  aloft  before.  The  mandrake  is  said  to 
shriek  when  dragged  out  by  the  roots ;  so  did  every  shroud, 
backstay,  and  halliard  aboard  the  Iron  Crown,  to  the  fierce 
jerking  strains  put  upon  them  by  the  giddy,  capricious  rolling 
of  the  spars.  Every  parrel  delivered  a  groan  of  its  own,  every 
sheave  squeaked  like  a  rat  in  its^block  ;  nor  though  the  wind 
was  of  some  little  briskness  had  it  power  to  keep  the  courses 
and  even  the  topsails  distended  during  the  leeward  plunges, 
when  the  heavy  cloths  would  come  in  to  the  masts  with  a  blow 
that  sent  blasts  of  noise  through  the  air  like  boiler  explosions 
or  smart  claps  of  thunder. 

Broadwater  was  in  charge.  I  stepped  mechanically  over  to 
the  compass  to  have  a  look  at  the  card,  though  of  course  it  was 
to  be  known  by  the  lay  of  her  yards  that  the  brig  was  steering 
her  true  course.  The  captain  was  clothed  in  a  long  pea-coat 
and  sou'-wester,  and  his  red  face,  framed  in  the  sea-helmet, 
showed  methought  this  morning  very  sourly,  with  a  harsh  twist 
about  his  mouth  that  put  the  look  of  a  sulky  sneer  into  its 
ordinary,  familiar,  whistling  expression.  A  large  drop  of 
moisture  sparkled  at  the  end  of  his  nose.  He  stood  holding  on 
to  the  weather-vang  of  the  trysail-gaff,  apparently  as  little  able 
as  I  was  to  move  about  the  decks.  The  watch  had  finished  their 
business  of  washing  down,  the  rcpcs  were  coiled  away,  and 
everything  was  ship-shape  foro  and  aft  •  but  the  drizzled,  weep- 
ing aspect  of  the  brig,  with  shadows  ot  moisture  lying  in  dark 
curves  upon  her  canvas,  and  blobs  of  wet  distilling  from  gray 
ropes  and  black  shrouds,  made  her  look  singularly  dejected  and 
forlorn,  and  I  could  scarcely  forbear  a  smile,  as  I  glanced  from 
the  picture  of  her  to  the  skipper's  face,  and  witnessed  the 
absurd  correspondence  between  his  damp  sourness  and  her 
appearance. 

He  eyed  me  as  if  he  would  like  to  speak,  but  I  took  care  that 
he  should  find  no  encouragement  in  the  short ' good-morning ' 
that  I  called  to  him.  The  truth  is,  I  had  given  him  as  wide  a 
berth  as  I  could  possibly  contrive  since  the  hour  when  he  had 
unfolded  his  scheme  to  me  of  capturing  the  half-blood.  I  hud 
made. up  my  mind  on  the  matter,  and  therefore  had  no  desire  t$ 


120  MAROONED 

hear  him  again  on  it.  Indeed,  Miss  Grant's  advice  had  so 
worked  in  me  that  my  attitude  was  perhaps  more  resolved  and 
more  sharply  accentuated  than  the  occasion  demanded.  In 
short,  it  entered  my  head  that,  for  all  I  could  tell,  the  captain's 
scheme  might  find  its  way  to  the  forecastle  ;  by  what  agency  of 
course  I  could  not  have  indicated,  for  I  was  sure  that  Gordon 
was  not  a  man  to  talk.  But?  nevertheless,  I  knew  that  on  ship- 
board there  is  a  species  of  wizardry  at  work  in  the  atmosphere, 
by  whose  operations  the  crew  do  somehow  or  other  manage  to 
obtain  a  dim  intelligence  of  what  passes  even  in  whispers  in 
the  cabin  ;  and  I  was  resolved  that  if  the  captain's  proposal  to 
me  should  come  to  be  guessed  at  by  the  sailors,  or  reach  their 
knowledge  in  the  indefinable  manner  in  which  news  creeps 
through  a  ship  at  sea.,  they  should  perceive  that  I  had  no 
sympathy  with  it ;  which  was  only  to  be  managed  by  letting 
them  infer  my  opinion  of  Broad  water  by  my  behaviour  to  him 
on  deck. 

It  was  a  gloomy  breakfast-table.  The  morning  lay  so  foggily 
upon  the  skylight  that  I  could  scarcely  distinguish  Miss  Grant  s 
features  without  leaning  towards  her.  There  were  fiddles  on 
the  table,  but  the  quick  rolls  of  the  brig  rendered  them  useless. 
A  plate  of  bacon  was  capsized  on  to  Broad  water's  knees,  and  I 
narrowly  escaped  being  badly  scalded  by  the  sudden  fetching 
away  01  the  skipper's  huge  teapot,  which  to  one  sharp  heave 
jumped  like  a  live  thing  over  the  divisions,  and  poured  its 
contents  in  a  boiling  stream  within  a  couple  of  inches  of  my 
right  leg. 

If  we  were  not  clear  of  the  Gulf  Stream,'  said  I, '  this  should 
make  a  man  believe  lu'mself  in  the  heart  of  it.' 

4  What's  the  matter  with  the  Gulf  Stream,  sir,'  said  Broad  water, 
4  supposing  this  was  it  ? ' 

4  You  have  heard,  I  suppose,'  said  I,  almost  amused  by  the 
excessive  sourness  in  his  face, 4  of  vessels  sailing  with  royals  and 
studding-sails  into  the  belt,  and  meeting  ships  coming  out  of  it 
under  close-reefed  topsails  i ' 

4  Well,  I  may  have  heard  of  it,  as  you  remark,'  he  exclaimed  • 
'  but  I  haven't  been  going  to  sea  all  these  years  to  believe  all  I 
hear  at  tliis  time  o'  day.' 

There  was  a  note  of  insolence  in  the  old  chap|s  voice  that 
instantly  started  me  on  addressing  Miss  Grant  with  the  com- 
pletest  air  of  unconsciousness  of  his  presence  that  I  could  com- 
mand. Once  I  caught  his  eye,  and  the  gleam  of  it  was  not  a 
little  malevolent,  minute  as  the  puncture  was  through  which  he 
stared.  How  unusually  quarrelsome  and  bad-tempered  he  was 
this  morning  was  to  be  noticed  in  his  way  of  speaking  to  the 
cabin-boy.  It  was  inconceivable  that  the  poor  lad  should  be 
able  to  cut  anything  but  an  intolerable  figure  on  that  staggering 
deck,  and  it  was  quite  wonderful  that  he  managed  to  scrape 
through  his  business  of  bringing  the  dishes  along  and  waiting 
go  us  without  breaking  his  neck,  not  to  speak  of  what  he 


WE  LOSE  THE  CABIN-BOY  151 

carried.  But  Broadwater  found  him  unendurable,  heaped  abuse 
on  him  whenever  he  had  sufficiently  emptied  his  mouth  to 
furnish  scope  to  his  tongue,  and  finally  exploded  in  a  whole 
volley  of  coarse  and  brutal  terms,  which  caused  Miss  Grant  to 
half  rise  from  her  chair  with  a  look  at  me  to  hand  her  to  her 
cabin.  But  the  old  fellow  left  his  seat  at  that  moment  and 
staggered  on  deck,  with  a  farewell  shake  of  his  fist  under  the 
hapless  boy's  nose,  whereupon  my  companion  resumed  her 
place. 

Gordon  arrived,  looking  gray  in  the  twilight  of  the  cabin,  and 
wretched  with  the  dogged  melancholy  that  hung  upon  him. 
'He  knuckled  his  forehead  with  a  dismal  gesture  to  Miss  Grant, 
sat  down  and  helped  himself  to  a  bit  of  beef,  with  the  air  of  a 
man  walking  in  his  sleep.  This  indeed,  to  a  certain  extent,  had 
been  his  mood  ever  since  the  night  of  the  apparition  of  the 
luminous  bow,  but  it  was  so  accentuated  this  morning  that  the 
dolefulness  of  it  was  absolutely  grotesque. 

'It  seems  to  me,  Gordon,'  said  I,  'that  a  glass  of  three-finger 
rum  and  one-finger  water  would  do  you  more  good  than  that 
black  fluid  you're  about  to  drink.  The  weather,  I  admit,  is 
enough  for  the  moment  to  make  life  appear  as  if  it  were  formed 
of  nothing  but  yellow  fog  and  bilious  dots.  But,  my  good 
fellow,  there  is  really  no  need  for  such  a  mute-like  face  as  yours, 
as  though  you  had  taken  a  fancy  to  a  hearse's  plume  to  embellish 
your  sou'- wester  with,  and  were  rehearsing  the  proper  cast  of 
countenance  for  it.' 

He  rolled  up  his  eyes  to  the  skylight,  and  then  gazed  at  me 
with  the  languishing  expression  of  a  sick  man,  but  did  not 
speak. 

'  Of  all  the  most  miserable  voyages,'  I  continued, '  recorded  or 
unwritten,  I'll  venture  to  declare  this  tops  the  list.' 

'Pray  don't  say  so,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  exclaimed  Miss  Grant. 
'Think  of  fire,  famine,  shipwreck,  the  uninhabited  coast,  or 
worse  still,  the  coast  inhabited  by  savages.' 

'  This  voyage  ain't  over  yet,'  said  Gordon,  in  the  voice  of  a 
raven. 

'I  don't  say  it's  calamitous'  I  went  on.  'Indeed,  but  for  the 
consideration  that  your  safety  and  comfort  are  involved,  I  should 
be  much  too  happy  to  wish  the  voyage  over.'  She  smiled,  and 
inclined  her  head  to  this  as  a  mere  commonplace  of  courtesy, 
and  indeed  I  easily  saw  that  she  made  nothing  of  it,  and 
suspected  nothing  in  it,  from  the  serenity  and  steadfastness  of 
her  gaze.  '  Yet,'  I  continued,  *  we  must  call  it  miserable.  As 
if  a  fit  of  superstition  ending  in  the  suicide  of  a  seaman  shouldn't 
suffice,  there  comes  the  barbarous  punishment  of  lashing  a  man 
to  the  mast.  As  though  that  were  not  enough,  mutiny  must 
follow,  along  with  a  horrid  murder.  And  now  here  is  Broadwater 
this  morning  with  every  instinct  of  bad  temper  and  brutality 
in  him  forking  out  like  the  claws  of  a  cat  at  sight  of  a  dog ; 
whilst  on  top  of  all  sits  my  good  friend  there,  bowed  down  by 


122  MAROONED 

some  sort  of  speechless  woe,  for  which  I  am  sure  that  there  i* 

no  remedy  but  a  good  pull  at  one  of  my  choice  old  brandy 

bottles.' 

i    I  started  up,  meaning  to  fetch  the  liquor,  but  he  arrested  me 

with  a  solemn  wave  of  the  hand. 

1    *  No,  sir,'  he  exclaimed,  '  there's  nothing  in  brandy  to  do  me 

food.  It  isn't  woe  that's  a  worriting  me.  "What  it  be  I'm  sure 
can't  tell.  I  believe  the  capt'n's  clean  off  his  head  this  morn- 
ing. He  came  up  a  cursing  of  you  to  me  just  now  as  if  he'd 
imagined  you  and  the  half-blood  was  gone  into  partnership  to 
take  his  life.' 
i  '  Do  you  suppose  he  thinks  this  t '  I  cried,  startled. 

'  No,  no,  sir,  he  replied ; '  I  said  <w  if  he  did.  There's  no  telling 
what  passes  in  such  a  mind  as  his.' 

;    'I  do  not  see  that  his  fancies,  whatever  they  may  be,  need 
trouble  us,'  said  Miss  Grant,  quietly. 

*  No,'  I  exclaimed ; '  it's  not  the  captain's  mind  ;  it's  your  face, 
Gordon.  Turn  to  and  give  yourself  a  good  hearty  shaking,  my 
lad,  and  so  get  rid  of  the  longshore  humour  that  s  come  to  you 
with  a  view  of  the  finest  sight  that  ever  mortal  eye  rested  on. 
Why,  man,  we  look  to  you  for  the  only  gleam  of  sailorly  jollity 
that's  to  be  witnessed  aboard  this  olcf  hooker.  It  was  but  the 
other  day  that  you  were  laughing  at  the  notions  that  dispatched 
the  poor  fellow  Jesse  Cooper  over  the  side.  Shake  this  temper 
out  of  you,  Gordon.' 

He  passed  the  back  of  his  hairy  hand  over  his  forehead.  '  Well, 
sir,'  he  exclaimed,  '  I  will  if  I  can.  I  hope  there's  nothing  in 
the  queer  sensations  that  have  come  into  me  to  agitate  the  lady, 
I'm  sure.  I'm  but  a  plain  sailor  man,  and  never  had  no  college 
to  go  to  but  the  fok's  le,  and  don't  feel  that  I've  got  any  right  to 
be  sitting  in  the  cabin  of  even  such  a  brig  as  this,  a-talking  to  a 
lady  ana  gent  like  you  and  Miss  there.  I'm  sure  I  ask  both  of 
your  pardons  if  I've  at  all  agitated  either  of  ye  by  my  manner. 
Sailors  are  but  mortal  like  other  folks ;  ye  know  that,  Mr. 
Musgrave.  The  sperrits  of  the  heartiest  of  them  will  fail  at 
times.  It'll  all  come  right,  I  dare  say,'  and  with  that  he  left  us. 

Now  all  this,  along  with  the  darkness  of  the  weather,  the 
drizzle  on  the  skylight,  the  vile  tumbling  of  the  brig,  ana  the 
harsh  groaning  of  the  labouring  fabric,  was  surely  enough  to 
render  both  Miss  Grant  and  myself  as  gloomy  and  depressed  as 
poor  Gordon  himself.  I  protest  it  made  me  feel  exceedingly 
uncomfortable  to  know  that  the  captain  had  gone  on  deck  and 
abused  me  to  the  boatswain  in  terms  which  it  was  easy  for  my 
imagination  to  fit  to  his  lips.  One  felt  that  everything  was 
wrong  aboard  the  brig,  from  the  eyes  of  her  to  the  transom,  that 
she  was  no  better  than  a  complicated  trap,  of  which  if  one  piece 
of  mechanism  went  wrong  tnere  was  half-a-score  more  whose 
action  was  bound  to  be  sure. 

There  was  nothing  to  tempt  one  on  deck.  It  was  Broadwater'g 
watch  below,  but  he  remained  above  throughout ;  why,  I  could 


WE  LOSE  THE  CABIN  BOY  128 

not  imagine,  unless  lie  was  too  irritable  to  rest  in  his  cabin. 
Thick  as  the  weather  was,  it  was  daylight,  and  one  could  see  a 
mile  at  all  events,  and  the  risks  therefore  were  as  nothing  com- 
pared with  those  of  that  black  night  on  which  the  pig  had  broken 
into  my  berth,  and  through  which  Broad  water  would  have  slept 
soundly,  no  doubt,  but  for  the  uproar,  as  he  had  turned  in  very 
nearly  drunk.  The  atmosphere  was  close  below,  and  the  lee  sky- 
light-lid lay  open,  and  through  it,  as  I  sat  conversing  with  Miss 
Grant,  I  could  hear  the  captain  occasionally  bawling  in  a  voice 
whose  harsh,  hoarse  note  struck  upon  the  ear  with  something  of 
the  smart  of  a  blow  from  a  missile  on  the  flesh.  Once  I  heard  the 
men  singing  out,  and  gathered  from  the  orders  delivered  by 
"Gordon  that  they  were  trimming  saiL  The  motion  of  the  brig, 
however,  continued  abominable,  spasms  and  throes  of  motion 
quite  bewildering  to  the  brain  at  times,  accompanied  by  all  sorts 
of  ugly  slopping  sounds  of  water,  hysteric  sobbings  and  gurg- 
lings swelling  into  a  semi-muffled,  yearning  roar  as  some  wind- 
ward roll  would  send  a  billow  howling  from  the  side.  Reading 
was  impossible;  there  was  nothing  to  be  made  of  chess  or  cards, 
and  we  could  find  no  better  diversion  than  sitting  and  talking. 

I  think  it  must  have  been  about  noon  when  I  heard  the 
captain's  voice  suddenly  exerted  in  a  number  of  shouts  in 
which  he  seemed  to  be  repeating  the  same  orders  over  and  over 
again,  but  in  the  most  angry,  savage,  threatening  tones  that 
could  be  imagined. 

4  What  on  earth  can  the  wretched  old  man  be  at  now  f '  said 
L  '  111  take  a  peep.' 

I  threw  a  cloak  over  my  shoulders,  put  on  my  cap,  and  went 
on  deck.  Broadwater  was  standing  on  the  weather-side  of  the 
quarter-deck,  gripping  the  main-royal  backstay,  and  shouting 
to  somebody  on  the  tore,  though  I  did  not  immediately  look 
that  way.  Gordon  was  near  the  skylight,  his  hands  buried  in 
his  coat-pockets,  and  his  dejected  face  sulkily  staring  seawards 
with  an  air  of  petulant,  gloomy  unconcern  upon  him,  as  of  a 
man  who  had  passed  through  the  stages  of  loathing  and  disgust 
into  contemptuous  indifference.  I  walked  right  aft  so  as  to 
get  out  of  the  sphere  of  the  skipper's  little  eyes  ;  since,  whilst  I 
was  anxious  to  see  what  was  going  on,  I  was  also  disposed  to 
fear  that  if  the  old  fellow  caught  me  watching,  he  might  fall 
foul  of  me  in  his  present  humour  before  the  sailors.  I  now 
noticed  that  the  wind  had  come  a  point  or  two  more  free  since 
early  morning,  and  that  the  yards  were  braced  in  to  that 
extent.  The  foretop-mast  studding-sail  had  been  set,  but  some- 
thing -was  wrong  with  the  block  at  the  extremity  of  the  boom, 
and  the  halliards  had  been  slacked  away  and  the  sail  hauled  in 
great  part  down  upon  the  forecastle,  where  it  hung  with  the 
watch  standing  by  ready  to  hoist  away  afresh  when  the  diffi- 
culty aloft,  whatever  it  was,  had  been  remedied. 

It  is  proper  I  should  state  here,  for  the  information  of  those 
to  whom  sea  terms  are  unintelligible,  that  *  studding -sail -boom 


124  MAROONED 

is  a  long,  smooth  spar  that  reeves  through  irons  fixed  upon  the 
yard  to  which  it  belongs,  and  that,  when  the  studding-sail  is  to 
be  set,  is  run  out  far  beyond  the  ship's  side  for  the  extension  of 
the  foot  of  the  cloths.  There  is  no  gear  attached  to  it  except 
the  tack  at  the  extremity,  so  that  'tis  for  all  the  world  like 
one  of  those  greasy  poles  which  they  project  over  the  head  of 
a  moored  craft  on  a  regatta  day,  for  marine  Jack  Puddings  to 
walk  out  on. 

Now  as  I  stood  near  the  wheel,  the  first  object  I  saw  was  the 
figure  of  the  cabin-boy  Billy,  as  he  was  called,  jockeying  the 
studding-sail-boom  at  the  distance  of  some  three  or  four  feet 
from  the  yard-arm.  He  was  supposed  to  be  sliding  out  to  the 
end  of  it — astride  it  as  though  on  horseback — but  you  saw  at 
the  first  glance  that  the  poor  creature  was  in  a  mortal  fright ; 
that  having  been  urged  by  the  captain's  threats  to  the  point  at 
which  he  had  arrived,  he  was  too  terrified  to  advance,  whilst  the 
purple  face  of  the  old  tyrant  on  the  quarter-deck  prohibited 
Him  from  returning.  At  any  time  such  a  job  as  this  would 
have  been  full  of  danger.  Even  at  anchor  on  the  motionless 
surface  of  a  river,  the  task  of  sliding  out  to  the  extremity  of  a 
long,  naked,  and  slippery  boom  would  not  have  been  without 
its  peril  The  undertaking  was  now  rendered  so  prodigiously 
dangerous  by  the  peculiarly  sharp,  rapid,  jerking,  and  dislocating 
heaves,  staggers,  and  rolls  of  the  brig,  that  the  mere  sight  of  the 
lad  up  there  shocked  me  as  though  he  were  hanging  by  the 
neck;  or  being  in  any  other  way  done  to  death  by  the  man  who 
continued  to  bawl  out  menaces  to  him. 

'  By  Heaven ! '  I  cried,  with  the  quick,  shuddering  sensation  of  a 
recoil  within  myself,  so  to  speak, '  he'll  be  overboard  in  a  minute.' 

'  Yes,  by  the  Everlasting !  but  if  he  goes  for  good,  the  one 
that  '11  follow  him  ain't  fur  off,'  said  a  low  voice  close  to  mv 
side.  I  turned  ;  it  was  Charles,  the  half-blood,  who  was  stand- 
ing at  the  wheel.  I  had  not  until  this  moment  noticed  him. 
One  laughs  often  at  descriptions  in  novels  of  the  villain  of  the 
plot  hissing  out  his  threats  and  imprecations  through  his 
clenched  teeth ;  but  I  protest  that  though  it  was  impossible 
this  man  could  have  spoken  with  his  teeth  clenched,  his  utter- 
ance had  the  sharp,  seething  sound  which  is  in  the  romancer's 
mind  when  he  endeavours  to  express  it.  I  started  with  a 
sudden  uncontrollable  shudder  of  aversion,  and  went  some 
yards  forward. 

'  Shove  along  out  1  shove  along  out ! '  roared  Broadwater,  with 
an  angry  sweep  of  his  arm  towards  the  extremity  of  the  boom. 

The  hue  of  the  sky  against  which  the  boy  swung  was  a  dull 
and  dingy  slate,  here  and  there  in  it  a  deepening  of  shadow 
where  some  dark  cloud  sailed  above  the  haze :  and  out  of  the 
horizon,  that  seemed  to  welter  within  reacn  of  an  arrow, 
the  sea  came  running  in  short,  snappish,  colliding  leaps,  with 
a  quarrelsome,  hound-like  shouldering  of  one  another,  and 
fretful  tossjngs  of  their  heads  of  froth  into  the  air,  the  foam 


WE  LOSE  THE  CABIN-BOY  125 

falling  back  like  showers  of  snow  against  the  dingy  back- 
ground. The  sailors  stared  up  at  the  lad,  but  though  now 
one  and  then  another  of  them  would  make  a  movement  as  if 
he  were  about  to  spring  into  the  rigging,  no  man  offered  to 
take  the  boy's  place. 

I  don't  believe,  however,  it  was  so  much  the  peril  of  the  work 
that  held  the  fellows  in  a  body  looking  on,  as  the  feeling  that 
the  captain  had  started  the  wretched  boy  on  this  business  as  a 
'work-up  job,'  and  that  he  would  not  permit  any  other  man  to 
take  his  place.  It  was  the  most  barbarous  piece  of  cruelty  you 
could  conceive — out  and  away  worse  than  the  fastening  of  the 
half-blood  to  the  mast.  It  was  not  only  that  the  lad  had  not 
"signed  as  a  sailor,  so  that  the  captain  had  no  right  to  turn  him 
to  work  of  that  kind :  of  all  the  people  aboard  the  brig  the 
poor  creature  was  the  least  qualified  for  so  perilous  an  under- 
taking as  sliding  out  to  the  extremity  of  a  long  boom  that  was 
buckling  and  jumping  like  a  coach-whip  to  the  tumbling  vessel's 
thrash  of  spar  and  shear  of  yard-arm. 

'  Out  with  you  !  Shove  along !  Bv  thunder,  I'll  make  a 
traveller  of  you  with  the  end  of  the  tack  !  I'll  have  ye  hauled 
out  and  made  two  blocks  of  and  belayed  if  you  don't  bear  a 
hand  !  There's  no  ile  in  that  timber — no  use  your  a-squeezing 
of  it ! — so  out  ye  go  now  ! — out  ye  go ! ' 

The  white  face  of  the  lad  turned  towards  the  captain,  full  of 
entreaty  and  terror.  On  a  sudden  his  cap  blew  off.  Trifling 
as  the  thing  was,  the  mere  sight  of  the  headgear  dropping  with 
a  whirl  into  the  sea  and  showing  black  an  instant  ere  smothered 
by  a  breaking  wave,  sent  a  shock  through  me. 

'  I  can't  get  out,  sir ;  I  can't  indeed,  sir,'  cried  the  boy,  in  a 
most  miserable,  whining  voice.  I  noticed  several  of  the  men 
forward  staring  my  way,  as  though  Avondering  whether  I  meant 
to  interfere,  perhaps  hoping  to  provoke  me  to  do  so  with  their 
looks.  But  remonstrance  was  too  late,  even  if  I  had  not  satisfied 
myself,  by  observing  the  temper  old  Broadwater  was  in,  that  it 
would  be  idle.  It  was  quite  plain  that  the  lad  was  incapable  of 
working  himself  another  foot  along  the  booni ;  and  it  seemed  to 
me,  from  the  despairful,  clinging  posture  with  which  he  hugged 
the  spar,  his  trousers  ridden  up  to  his  knees,  and  his  thin  legs 
and  long  naked  feet  swinging  in  sharp  relief  against  the  haze 
past  them,  that  terror  had  rendered  him  incapable  of  returning. 
On  a  sudden  the  brig  pitched  sharply,  all  aslant ;  then  with  a 
stagger  recovered  herself,  instantly  following  it  by  another  sharp 
plunge  and  a  heavy  seething  of  water  beaten  off  her  weather-bow. 

'  Mind  ! '  I  cried  at  this  moment,  '  the  boy  will  be  overboard.' 
^As  I  spoke  he  swung  under  the  boom,  still  clinging  to  it  with 
his  legs  and  arms. 

'  Come  in  I  come  in  ! '  roared  Gordon,  rushing  forward ;  'yon 
can  manage  it,  my  lad ;  take  your  time.  Up  aloft  some  ot  ye 
and  help  him.' 

Three  men  sprang  into  the  shrouds,  but  before  they  were  fiv« 


126  MABOONED 

ratlines  high  the  lad's  legs  dropped,  and  he  swayed  at  the  boom 
with  his  hands  meeting  upon  it.  his  figure  swinging  like  thn 
end  of  a  rope.  Half-a-dozen  throats  shouted  out  as  many 
suggestions.  '  Hold  on,  Billy !  We'll  have  a  bowline  for  ye  in 
a  moment ! '  'Work  your  way  in,  Billy,  hand  over  hand,  lad  ! ' 
'  Don't  let  go,  for  Heaven's  sake.  There  are  men  now  running 
aloft  to  help  ye ! ' 

'  In  God's  name,'  I  cried,  making  a  spring  in  my  excitement 
towards  Broadwater,  'put  your  helm  down  before  he  lets  go, 
that  the  brig's  way  may  be  checked  when  he's  in  the  water  ! 

He  did  not  answer  me,  but  if  ever  human  eyes  flashed  a 
curse  at  a  man  his  did.  There  was  a  life-buoy  aft,  seized  to  the 
rail  in  the  good  old  English  style.  Without  a  knife  I  could  not 
free  it.  A  steel  blade  was  flourished  close  to  my  nose.  '  Here, 
sir,  cut  away  with  this  ;  it's  sharp  enough  for  tougher  stuff  than 
laniards.'  I  seized  the  knife  that  the  half-blood  extended  to  me 
from  the  wheel,  severed  the  seizings,  and  retu  rned  the  weapon  to 
the  fellow,  with  a  horror  springing  into  me  even  in  that  wild 
moment  of  excitement,  to  the  thought  that  it  was  the  same 
knife  with  which  he  haa  murdered  the  mate  !  I  looked  forward  ; 
the  boy  was  gone,  and  the  boom  reeled  naked  against  the  sky. 
At  the  same  moment,  'Man  overboard!  Down  liellum !  down 
helium ! '  came  sweeping  aft  in  a  perfect  hurricane  roar  from 
the  lips  of  the  seamen  gathered  forward,  and  the  deck  re-echoed 
the  clattering  of  their  feet  as  they  came  racing  in  a  body  to  the 
quarter-boat.  I  looked  over  the  side,  and  there  on  the  quarter 
lay  the  boy  on  his  back  floating  with  his  arms  out.  I  sprang  on 
to  the  rail  to  fairly  heave  the  life-buoy,  and  whilst  I  stood  in  that 
posture  for  the  space  of  a  breath,  /  saw  the  poor  creature  smile 
at  me.  I  vow  to  God  it  was  a  thing  abnost  heart-breaking  in  its 
way.  It  may  have  unnerved  my  arm  ;  I  know  not,  I  am  sure. 
I  did  my  best,  flung  the  buoy  with  my  full  strength  and  as  a 
sailor  would,  but  it  fell  far  short  of  him,  and  though  the  half- 
blood  ground  the  wheel  down  till  you  would  have  thought  that 
the  passion  of  the  creature  had  given  him  strength  to  twist  the 
heaa  sheer  off  the  rudder  it  belonged  to,  yet  the  lubberly  bows 
of  the  brig  came  round  so  leisurely  against  the  conflicting  beat 
of  the  snarling  and  worrying  seas,  that  the  floating  figure  seemed 
a  mile  off  in  less  time  than  it  would  have  taken  a  man  to  put 
up  a  prayer  to  God  for  him. 


CHAPTER  XVDI 

WE    LOSB    FOUR    MEN 

THEN  happened  a  scene  of  bitter  confusion.  Though  the  men. 
whilst  they  stood  watching  the  lad  forward,  must  have  guessed 
as  clearly  as  I  what  would  happen,  they  had  said  nothing ;  but 
now  that  the  boy  was  overboard  and  drowning,  they  broke  into 


WE  LOSE  FOUR  MEN  127 

a  hut-ired  execrations  against  the  captain  whilst  they  cast  the 
gripes  of  the  lee  quarter-boat  adrift  and  cleared  away  the  falls 
ready  for  lowering.  The  uproar  was  increased  by  Broadwater's 
vociferations  to  them  to  bear  a  hand  ;  but  each  cry  of  his  served 
but  as  a  challenge  to  the  rage  of  the  men,  who  roared  back  every 
choicest  flower  of  the  forecastle  dialect  which  they  could  summon 
to  their  lips.  However,  they  worked  nimbly  for  all  that,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  the  boat,  with  a  couple  of  men  in  her  and 
Gordon  in  the  stern-sheets  overhanging  the  stern  as  he  fitted 
the  rudder  to  the  pintles,  was  swinging  at  the  davits.  'Lower 
away  handsomely ! '  The  little  craft  sank  out  of  sight  down  the 
side,  and  in  a  few  minutes  was  leaping  like  an  indiarubber  ball 
upon  the  seas,  to  the  desperate  drag  of  the  two  fellows  at  the  oars. 

The  shouts  from  the  captain  now  brought  the  sailors  to  the 
maintop-sail  brace,  and  whilst  the  men  were  pulling  at  the  ropes 
to  get  the  yards  aback,  hauling  in  a  delirious  sort  of  way,  with 
temper  ringing  menacingly  in  the  songs  with  which  they  accom- 
panied their  work,  Miss  Grant  arrived  on  deck,  and  spying  me 
before  I  saw  her.  instantly  approached  with  a  hurried,  anxious, 
'  What  is  it  now,  Mr.  Musgrave  ? ' 

'Why,  another  murder,  bad  as  Both  well's,  if  there  be  justice 
in  heaven  to  decide ! '  I  cried,  for  I  was  thinking  of  the  drowning 
lad's  smile  at  the  moment,  and  the  mere  having  to  tell  her  what 
had  happened  made  me  feel  as  mutinously  savage  as,  I  warrant 
me,  the  darkest-minded  of  the  men  who  were  running  about. 

She  brought  her  hands  together  in  a  gesture  of  terror ;  there 
was  real  fear  in  the  eyes  with  which  she  swept  the  sea.  She 
seized  me  by  the  arm,  and  exclaimed  with  a  shuddering  glance 
towards  Broad  water,  'Another  murder  do  you  say,  Mr.  Musgrave? 
Oh,  if  so — if  so — '  and  then  she  stopped  with  a  bewildered  stare 
at  the  jumbled  roll  of  green  seas  that  came  with  staggers  which 
shook  them  into  snow  out  of  the  windward  thickness. 

I  had  shocked  and  startled  her  from  the  brave  hold  she  had 
hitherto  kept  upon  her  feelings,  and  could  have  cursed  myself 
for  my  brutal,  uncouth  candour.  '  I  have  put  it  too  strongly,'  I 
cried,  eager  to  subdue  in  her  eyes  something  of  that  light  of 
horror  and  fear  which  gave  a  kind  of  madness  to  their  beauty. 
'  It  is  not  murder  in  the  sense  you  think  it.  It  is  but  another 
act  of  miserable  cruelty  which  I  fear  must  end  in  the  death  of 
our  cabin-boy.' 

'  Tell  me  about  it ! '  she  exclaimed,  in  a  breathless  way, 
securing  her  hold  of  my  arm  by  clasping  the  fingers  of  both 
hands  upon  it. 

I  related  the  incident  as  swiftly  as  I  could  speak  it,  and  I  do 
not  think  I  shall  ever  forget  the  look  of  tragic  loathing  and 
indignation  in  her  face  when  she  turned  to  glance  at  Broadwater 
over  her  shoulder  as  he  stood  on  the  other  side  of  the  deck, 
huskily  bawling  instructions  to  the  crew. 

'  Where  is  the  boat  ? '  she  cried  impetuously. 

I  pointed  in  the  direction  in  which  I  had  last  seen  it,  and 


128  MAROONED 

walked  right  aft  with  her  and  peered  into  the  windy  thicknest 
but  could  see  no  signs  of  the  little  fabric ;  nothing  like  it  saving 
a  darker  ridge  of  green  here  and  there  which  would  melt  into 
foam  even  as  I  watched.  I  abhorred  the  obligation  of  having 
to  address  the  half-blood,  but  excitement  was  working  in  m?B 
like  a  fever,  and  I  could  think  of  little  more  than  that  the  boat 
which  I  had  in  full  view  a  minute  or  two  before  Miss  Grant 
came  on  deck  was  now  out  of  sight. 

*  Do  you  see  anything  of  her  ? '  I  said  to  him. 

*  She  went  out  of  sight  on  a  sudden,'  he  answered.   '  She's  afloat 
right  enough,  I  reckon  ;  the  mist  will  have  swallowed  her  up.' 
He  leaned  from  the  wheel,  pointing  with  a  small,  beautifully- 
shaped,  but  discoloured  hand  out  to  sea  upon  the  weather  quarter. 

The  brig's  way  was  stopped,  so  far  at  least  as  forging  ahead 
went ;  but  of  her  leeward  trdnd  dead  along  the  path  of  the 
wind  the  nimbleness  might  be  gathered  by  looking  over  the 
side,  where  you  saw  the  oil-like  smoothness  left  by  her  to  the 
distance  of  a  pistol-shot,  beyond  whose  verge  the  so-as  were 
breaking  as  though  they  were  kept  at  bay  to  that  point  by  a 
coating  of  oil  upon  the  waters.  I  thought  Broadwater  must  be 
stark  mad  to  keep  his  brig  hove-to  under  a  press  which  every 
moment  was  driving  her  deeper  into  the  obscurity  that  hid  us 
from  the  boat  as  she  was  hidden  from  us  by  it.  The  vessel  was 
under  royals  and  flying-jib,  and  to  such  a  surface,  helped  as  the 
fabric  also  was  by  the  seas,  our  drift  would  be  rapid  beyond 
endurance ;  yet  not  a  sheet  was  started  or  a  halliard  let  go. 
The  old  man  stood  on  the  weather-side,  leaning  upon  the  rail, 
and  fixedly  gazing  seaward  under  the  thatch  of  his  sou'-wester ; 
forward,  both  watches — the  whole  of  the  crew  in  short,  as  many 
of  them  as  were  left — overhung  the  bulwarks  pointing  and 
talking,  with  one  man  half-way  up  the  fore-shrouds,  swinging 
out  from  a  ratline,  and  his  left  hand  shading  his  eyes  as  he 
bent  his  gaze  at  the  brownish  drizzle  upon  the  near  horizon. 
Five  minutes  passed  ;  nothing  was  done,  and  nothing  said  that 
reached  our  ears.  The  captain  held  his  motionless  posture, 
staring  as  though  fascinated.  One  heard  nothing  but  the 
wearisome  sobbing  and  plashing  of  waters,  the  yeasty  seething 
of  brine  to  the  chop  of  the  cutwater  forward,  the  simmering 
of  foam  hissing  in  recoil  from  the  smart  shock  or  the  descending 
counter,  with  the  cheerless  clank  of  wheel-chains  and  jar  of 
rudder,  the  melancholy  clatter  of  wet  spare  booms,  the  rushing 
noise  of  wind  aloft  to  the  drunken  weather  lurches  of  the  brig. 
Suddenly  old  Broadwater  sprang  erect  from  his  squared  arms, 
and  came  rolling  along  to  where  we  stood. 

'  See  anything  of  the  boat,  sir  ? '  he  cried. 

'Nothing,'  I  answered,  scarcely  able  to  tell  him  so,  for  my 
aversion  almost  overpowered  my  faculty  of  speaking. 

'Forward  there,'  he  bawled,  turning  his  face  towards  the 
forecastle,  'any  one  amongst  ye  see  anything  of  the  boat?' 

'  Nothing,'  came  back  the  response,  in  so  sulky  a  swing  through 


WE  LOSE  FOUR  MEN  129 

the  wind,  that  it  made  one  think  of  the  sudden  dead  flap  of  & 
sail  in  the  midnight  obscurity  of  an  electric  storm  that  has  not 
yet  burst.  The  old  man  struck  his  hip  violently  with  the  flat 
of  his  hand,  drove  both  fists  deep  into  his  pockets,  then  started 
as  if  to  walk,  but  changed  his  mind,  and  came  to  the  rail  again, 
and  stood  looking  with  a  creeping  consternation  in  his  face, 
before  which  one  saw  the  temper  in  it  fading  away. 

My  feelings  made  me  reckless.  I  said  to  him  roughly  and 
defiantly,  'You'll  lose  your  boat  if  you  don't  strip  your  ship. 
Do  you  know,  man,  that  you're  driving  dead  to  leeward  at  the 
rate  of  three  or  four  miles  an  hour  1 ' 

He  sent  a  glance  at  the  half-blood  before  answering  me,  and 
then  in  a  half-choked  voice  gasped  out  with  an  oath,  'If  there's 
a  mutiny,  you'll  be  the  ringleader !  I  knows  ye ;  I've  been 
following  of  ye.  You  teach  me  my  business  ! '  He  pulled  his 
fist  out  of  his  pocket  to  shake  it  in  my  face.  I  at  first  imagined 
by  this  gesture  that  he  meant  to  attack  me,  and  quickly  released 
Miss  Grant's  hold  that  I  might  be  ready  for  him.  Muscular  as 
he  was,  with  no  lack  of  weight  'of  beef  in  him,  as  sailors  say,  I 
believe  he  would  have  found  his  match  in  me  at  that  moment ; 
for  his  charging  me  with  being  the  ringleader  of  a  mutiny  was 
an  insult  to  make  fire  of  blood  running  by  luck  of  disposition  in 
a  much  gentler  stream  than  mine,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  ever  did. 
But  very  quietly  Miss  Grant  stepped  in  front  of  me,  and  the 
old  fellow,  with  a  second  look  at  the  half-blood,  rolled  over  to 
the  companion,  where  he  stood  a  few  moments  staring  seawards, 
and  then  with  an  air  of  sudden  hurry  vanished  below. 

He  reappeared  after  a  brief  absence,  grasping  an  old  blunder- 
buss, the  bell-shaped  muzzle  of  which  was  almost  big  enough 
to  have  received  his  head.  He  ran  to  the  bulwarks  with  it 
close  to  where  we  stood.  I  confess  I  was  not  a  little  alarmed 
by  the  sight  of  so  formidable  a  weapon  in  the  hands  of  this 
enraged  old  man,  and  I  watched  his  movements  with  no  small 
anxiety,  as  I  could  not  imagine  what  he  intended  to  do  with  the 
piece.  On  a  sudden  he  lifted  the  stock  to  his  shoulder,  drooped 
his  pear-shaped  nose  over  the  trigger,  and  screwing  up  one  eye 
as  though  he  were  talcing  aim  at  a  bird  in  the  air,  let  fly.  The 
explosion  could  not  have  been  more  noisy  had  he  discharged  a 
swivel  cannon,  and  the  recoil  of  the  piece  was  so  violent  that 
it  came  very  near  to  flinging  him  on  to  his  back.  However,  I 
perceived  that  his  object  was  to  signal  the  brig's  whereabouts 
to  the  boat,  and  I  should  have  been  glad  to  help  him  by  dis- 
charging another  musket,  or  blunderbuss,  if  the  brig  owned 
a  second,  but  was  kept  quiet  by  the  memory  of  his  insult,  and 
by  the  expression  of  ugly  temper  upon  his  face.  When  he  had 
discharged  the  gun,  he  whipped  out  a  great  powder-flask  and 
proceeded  to  reload,  but  poured  in  so  much  powder,  whilst  he 
rammed  in  so  large  and  stubborn  a  lump  of  newspaper,  that  all 
in  silence  I  took  Miss  Grant  by  the  hand  and  led  her  some 
distance  forward,  where  on  the  other  side  of  the  deck,  should 

X 


130  MAROONED 

the  crazy  old  weapon  explode,  we  would  be  out  of  reach  of 
the  flying  fragments.  Having  charged  his  blunderbuss,  he 
approached  the  rail  again,  and  taking  aim  at  some  imaginary 
object  with  as  much  solicitude  of  posture,  indeed,  as  if  he  was 
shooting  grouse  or  snipe,  and  screwing  up  his  left  eye  so 
tightly,  that  I  burst  into  a  laugh  at  the  sight  of  that  side  of 
his  face,  showing  in  a  sort  of  purple  blurr  of  wrinkles  against 
the  rusty  barrel  and  the  dull  leaden  shadow  beyond,  he  pulled 
the  trigger  a  second  time.  The  piece  exploded  with  a  great 
blaze  of  Tight,  and  the  blast  of  a  little  thunder-shock,  and  down 
he  tumbled  to  it,  quite  as  I  had  expected ;  only  instead  of 
measuring  his  length,  he  smote  the  deck  heavily  with  his  hams, 
and  preserved  a  sitting  posture,  with  the  blunderbuss  across 
his  knees,  and  his  face  full  of  astonishment  and  anger. 

Presently  he  rose  and  put  the  firearm  on  the  skylight,  and 
went  to  the  rail.  He  stared  long  and  earnestly,  then  shouted 
to  the  men  forward  to  know  if  they  saw  anything  ;  afterwards 
gaped  aloft  at  his  canvas,  with  a  slow  bringing  of  his  eyes  down 
to  where  we  stood.  But  for  the  temper  and  brutality  of  the 
man  I  should  have  felt  sorry  for  him. 

'Do  you  think  he  will  be  able  to  recover  the  boat?'  Miss 
Grant  asked. 

'  I  fear  not,'  I  answered, '  unless  the  weather  should  miracu- 
lously clear  within  the  next  half -hour ;  and  even  then  the 
chances  should  be  all  against  recovery,  unless  the  old  fool 
promptly  shortened  sail  down  to  his  topsails — nay,  down  to 
bare  poles.' 

'But  surely,  Mr.  Musgrave,  we  are  not  likely  to  lose  the 
boat?' 

'At  sea  things  grow  horribly  serious  in  a  minute,'  said  L 

I  crossed  with  her  again  to  the  weather-rail,  and  telescoping 
my  hands,  sent  a  long,  long  searching  look  into  the  length  of 
the  dingy  shadow  of  mist,  a  little  way  past  the  line  of  which 
one  saw  the  phantasmal  welter  of  the  seas  and  the  scarce  deter- 
minable  flash  of  foam,  vague  as  an  outline  in  still  dark  waters, 
to  where  they  melted  into  the  blindness  of  the  haze.  The  first 
clamorous  wrath  of  the  men  forward  had  been  changed,  by 
waiting  and  peering,  into  a  sort  of  angry  uneasiness.  There 
were  nine  of  them  ;  they  hung  in  a  row  along  the  bulwarks,  one 
repeatedly  leaning  inboards  to  look  past  another  aft  at  the 
skipper,  as  though  full  of  sullen,  irritable  wonder  at  this  waiting 
and  drifting  scheme  of  his.  But  he  made  no  sign.  He  went  to 
the  binnacle,  and  lifting  the  hood  laid  the  sharp  of  his  hand 
across  the  card,  as  though  seeking  to  arrive  by  memory  at  the 
bearings  of  the  boat.  I  suspected  in  him  some  trick  of  seaman- 
ship above  my  knowledge  in  his  keeping  the  vessel  under  all 
plain  sail  hove-to  ;  but  I  could  not  bring  myself  to  address  him. 
Ten  minutes  passed — ten  minutes  of  silence  along  our  decks — all 
of  us  meanwhile  staring  our  hardest  to  windward,  not  a  syllable 
coming  from  forwards  to  break  the  dreary  washing  noises  of 


WE  LOSE  FOUR  MEN  131 

water,  and  the  sounds  of  the  restless  straining  of  the  yeiking. 
rolling,  and  plunging  brig.  On  a  sudden,  Broad  water  roared 
out, '  Swing  the  maintopsail-yard !  Sweat  everything  fore  and 
aft !  Get  them  jib-sheets  flattened  in ! ' 

The  sailors,  eager  to  be  doing,  sprang  to  his  commands ;  I 
quitted  Miss  Grant  to  help  them,  and  dragged  with  the  gangs 
till  the  yards  were  pointed  to  the  wind  as  far  as  they  would  go  ; 
but  there  were  no  songs.  Here  and  there  a  fellow  would  raise 
a  low  monotonous  yowling  that  the  others  might  take  time  from 
his  notes ;  but  there  was  no  cheeriness  in  the  sailors'  voices,  and 
such  few  cries  as  were  raised  were  more  like  the  melancholy 
•  groaning  of  sufferers  than  the  hearty  piping  out  of  seamen  at 
work.  The  main  tack  was  boarded  in  silence,  and  the  jigger 
clapped  on  to  such  sheets  and  running  gear  as  demanded  the 
extra  purchase,  as  though  the  brig's  company  consisted  of 
undertakers'  mutes.  The  wind  seemed  to  come  fresher  now  that 
the  vessel  was  looking  up  to  it  close-hauled,  and  under  the  great 
pressure  of  her  cloths  she  lay  over  until  her  lee-channels  were 
awash  amid  the  smother  of  spume  there,  though  it  was  the  mere 
spluttering  of  her  round  bows  throwing  the  heads  of  the  seas 
into  cataracts  from  her  that  made  the  tumbling  whiteness 
alongside ;  for  I  question  if  her  progress,  jammed  as  she  was 
till  the  weather-leeches  of  her  royals  and  topgallant-sails  were 
hollowed  aback,  was  as  great  as  her  drift  had  been  when  her 
topsail  was  to  the  mast. 

It  was  clear  now  that  the  captain's  intention  was  to  '  ratch ' 
for  the  boat,  as  he  himself  would  have  termed  it — by  which  I 
mean  that  it  was  his  design  to  beat  to  windward  in  short  tacks 
in  the  direction  in  which  the  boat  had  last  been  seen ;  and 
maybe  he  had  kept  full  sail  on  the  brig  for  the  convenience  of 
handling  her  promptly,  although  I  held  to  my  opinion  that  he 
had  blundered  grievously  in.  holding  her  under  cloths  that  must 
have  given  her  a  drift  of  hard  upon  a  league  since  he  had  first 
hove  her  to.  It  was  past  two  o'clock,  and  as  I  saw  there  was  no 
chance  of  getting  any  dinner  that  day,  I  procured  some  refresh- 
ments from  our  private  stock,  and  Miss  Grant  and  I  made  a 
hurried,  uncomfortable  meal  in  the  cabin.  Even  whilst  we  sat 
there  Broad  water  put  the  brig  about  again,  and  as  I  felt  that  it 
was  my  duty  to  help  him  in  such  an  extremity  as  this,  I  hastened 
on  deck  and  assisted  the  men  in  pulling  and  dragging.  The  breeze 
had  freshened  yet,  the  seas  were  running  more  steadily,  but  the 
blank  around  the  horizon  had  thickened,  and  there  was  a  deeper 
shade  in  the  dinginess  on  high  that  made  it  look  as  if  it  floated 
with  a  stoop  towards  our  masts  ;  but  there  was  no  break  in  it, 
no  faintest  flaw  for  the  light  behind  to  steal  through,  whilst  the 
first  weak  drizzle  of  it  had  thickened  into  a  small,  fine  rain — so 
warm  that  you  did  not  feel  the  moisture  until  the  wind  had 
chilled  it — which  blew  transversely  in  horizontal  lines  over  the 
bow,  sometimes  clouding  up  into  a  gush  of  white  smoking  mist 
like  a  burst  of  steam  from  a  boiler,  that  made  a  blind  stare  of 

£2 


132  MAKOONED 

the  look  of  the  sea  till  the  plunge  of  the  wind  with  a  long  cry 
drove  it  clear  of  us. 

It  was  no  weather  for  Miss  Grant  to  show  herself  on  deck  in. 
but  she  declined  to  remain  below  •  so  I  made  her  as  snug  as  I 
could  with  wraps  and  a  waterproof -cloak,  and  she  remained  by 
my  side,  searching  the  cold,  green,  frothing  tumble  for  any  black 
speck  that  should  denote  the  boat,  as  all  hands  of  the  rest  of 
us  did.  Whenever  Broadwater  had  his  tacks  aboard,  he  sent  a 
couple  of  hands  aloft  to  the  fore  and  main-topmast  cross-trees, 
with  two  more  in  the  fore  and  main  rigging  just  under  the  tops, 
and  many  an  earnest  glance  would  I  direct  at  the  men  in  the 
hope  of  detecting  in  the  posture  of  any  one  of  them  that  his 
attention  had  been  taken,  and  that  he  would  be  singing  out  in 
a  minute  and  pointing.  The  misery  of  that  time  comes  back 
to  me  strongly.  It  is  not  in  my  pen  to  express  the  quality  of 
depressing  melancholy  that  was  put  into  that  thick,  sombre, 
damp  day,  with  its  cheerless  whistling  and  howling  of  wind 
aloft,  and  the  gray  sails  darkening  yet  to  the  beating  of  the 
rain,  and  the  chill  and  stormy  washing  of  water  from  the  bows 
of  the  ^vessel,  by  thoughts  of  the  lost  boat  away  out  in  the 
darkening  gloom  yonder,  and  of  the  anguish  of  expectation  and 
fear  that  would  fill  the  minds  of  the  men  in  her,  as,  riding  to 
their  oars — for  they  would  have  long  since  abandoned  the  labour 
of  rowing — they  leaned  over  the  low  gunwale,  peering  past  each 
green,  glimmering  curl  of  sea  for  any  smudge  upon  the  wall  of 
vapour  that  had  closed  around  them  which  should  indicate  the 
presence  of  our  brig. 

They  would,  of  course,  be  without  food  or  water.  Small 
chance  of  any  such  discipline  as  Broadwater  was  equal  to  pro- 
viding in  this  way  for  the  hurried  dispatch  of  a  vessel's  boats  ! 

'  Do  you  think,  Miss  Grant  said  to  me,  '  that  the  poor  fellows 
will  be  able  to  live  in  such  a  sea  as  this  ? ' 

'Impossible  to  say,' I  replied,  with  a  look  at  the  remaining 
1x>at  that  was  of  the  size  and  shape  of  the  other ;  '  every  wave 
lias  had  a  snappish  run  throughout.  Yet  the  men  are  sailors, 
and  will  know  how  to  manage  if  management  be  practicable. 
I  wonder  if  they  picked  up  the  boy.' 

'  I  fear  the  worst,'  she  exclaimed,  with  a  tremble  in  the  part- 
ing of  her  lips  to  the  sweep  of  the  breeze,  whilst  from  the 
whiteness  of  her  face  amid  the  twilight  of  her  hood  that  covered 
her  head,  her  dark  eyes  shone  out  bright  with  a  light  that  was 
feverish  with  brilliance. 

'Why?'  I  asked. 

4 1  believe  this  to  be  the  fulfilment,'  she  answered, '  of  Gordon's 
prophetic  melancholy.  It  was  the  shadow  of  this  event  that 
lay  upon  him.' 

I  shook  my  head.  *  There  was  no  prophetic  depression  in  the 
other  two;  at  least  one  may  reasonably  suppose  so.  Of  the 
three,  probably  Gordon  was  the  most  prosaic.  Why,  since 
there  were  four  men  to  perish  to-day — supposing  that  they  do 


WE  LOSE  FOUR  MEN  133 

perish — I  include  the  cabin-boy — why,  I  ask,  to  one  of  them 
only  should  the  future  whisper  ?  No,  no;  Gordon  would  have 
been  gloomy  whether  this  wretched  business  had  happened  or 
not.' 

'I  fear  the  worst  for  them,'  she  persisted.  'Is  not  the  air 
darkening  rapidly,  too?  Should  the  night  fall  without  our 
sighting  them — oh,  Mr.  Musgrave,  what  a  dreadful  fate ! — what 
a  dreadful  fate !' 

She  swept  her  hands  to  her  eyes,  but  dropped  them  quickly, 
and  running  to  the  rail  gazed  seawards ;  and  I  think  had  the 
Jiour  been  one  of  gravest  peril  to  ourselves,  instead  of  to  the 
"poor  fellows  tossing  about  somewhere  out  in  the  windward 
bleakness,  I  must  have  found  a  moment  to  admire — and  with  a 
stirring  of  wonder  in  my  admiration  too — the  character  of  tragic 
beauty  her  face  took  with  the  grief,  and  pity,  and  eagerness  in 
it,  as  the  flash  of  the  wind  swept  her  hood  clear  of  the  soft 
brown  of  her  disordered  hair,  and  left  her  lineaments  plain 
against  the  green  hills,  and  blowing  froth,  and  shadowy  steep 
of  the  scene  of  heaven  and  ocean  beyond. 

The  gathering  darkness  which  she  had  noticed  before  I  did 
was  to  prove  a  squall.  You  heard  the  long  moan  of  it  ere  it 
had  leapt  clear  of  the  near  haze,  and  revealed  its  approach  by 
the  glaring  rush  of  waters  at  its  base.  Already  Broadwater  was 
carrying  on  till  the  covering-board  was  flush,  with  the  water 
over  the  side.  'Let  go  royal  and  t'gallant  halliards!'  he 
bawled.  '  Down  flying  jib,  up  mainsail ! '  and  as  these  last 
words  left  his  mouth  the  squall  struck  the  vessel.  I  had 
foreseen  one  consequence,  and  had  provided  against  it  by 
whipping  a  rope's-end  round  Miss  Grant's  waist ;  otherwise, 
to  the  sudden,  fierce  inclination  of  the  deck,  she  must  have 
fallen  to  leeward  as  one  might  slip  down  the  roof  of  a 
house.  The  angle  was  so  extreme  that  it  was  almost  im- 
possible to  stir.  The  halliards  had  been  let  go,  but  the  slope 
of  the  masts  prevented  the  yards  from  travelling.  '  Over  with 
the  helm  !  over  with  the  helm  ! '  shrieked  Broadwater.  ^  I  sprang 
to  the  lee-spokes  to  assist  the  fellow  who  had  relieved  the 
half-blood,  and  who,  though  he  was  straining  with  set  teeth, 
seemed  unable  to  stir  the  wheel  by  so  much  as  a  spoke.  It 
was  now  a  picture  of  giddy  commotion  and  bewildering  uproar 
for  a  long  five  minutes.  The  brig  was  so  pressed  down,  that 
though  we  had  got  the  helm  jammed  hard  up,  I  feared  for 
some  moments  that  she  would  not  pay  off.  You  saw  the  yeast 
blowing  like  cream  over  the  lee-rail,  and  it  was  like  soapsuds, 
as  high  as  a  man's  waist,  the  whole  length  of  the  lee-scuppers. 
Sheets  had  been  slackened  away,  or  let  go,  and  the  rattle  of 
canvas  shook  the  vessel  to  her  heart.  The  squall  was  a  heavy 
one,  and  it  blew  with  a  voice  of  thunder  out  of  the  thickness  ; 
and  what  with  the  roaring  sound  of  the  blast  on  high — an 
independent  noise  that  dominated  all  other  sounds  with  the 
violent  ring  of  gusts  or  guns  echoing  through  the  rushing  wind — 


134  MAKOONED 

and  what  with  the  slapping  of  liberated  folds  of  canvas,  the 
hollow  blows  of  seas  upon  the  exposed  weather-side  of  the  hull, 
Broadwater's  shouts,  the  cries  of  the  men,  it  was  a  scene  that 
might  have  made  even  an  old  sailor  think  it  about  time  to  go 
to  prayers.  Fortunately,  however,  the  captain's  wits  were  equal 
to  an  emergency  of  this  kind.  He  bellowed  lustily  indeed,  but 
his  orders  were  right.  On  the  mainsail  being  hauled  up,  and 
the  trysail  smothered,  the  brig  paid  off,  and  as  she  recovered 
something  of  an  even  keel,  whilst  she  gradually  presented  her 
stern  to  the  wind,  the  yards  descended  the  masts,  instantly 
relieving  the  heavy  strain  up  there  :  and  before  it  we  bowled — 
though  towards  what  quarter  of  the  sea  I  never  thought  of 
looking — with  topsail-yards  on  the  caps,  the  topgallant-sails 
and  royals  blowing  out  like  flags  from  the  grip  of  their  clew- 
lines and  leech-lines,  with  the  hauled-down  jibs  making  the 
booms  buckle  again  to  the  heavy  dance  of  the  folds,  which  the 
pitch  of  the  vessel  would  souse  and  bring  up  streaming  till  the 
air  beyond  the  head  was  white  from  the  foam  ripped  away 
from  them  by  the  wind. 

However,  though  full  of  weight  and  spite,  it  was  but  a  squall, 
and  the  scream  of  it  had  presently  finea  down  into  the  familiar 
moaning  of  the  early  blast.  The  brig's  company  was  now  a 
short-handed  crew  for  the  work  that  was  to  be  done,  and  as  every 
pair  of  hands  was  of  the  utmost  consequence,  1  sang  out  to 
Broadwater  from  the  wheel  that  I  should  be  happy,  if  he  had  no 
objection,  to  stick  to  the  post,  that  the  man  whose  trick  it  was 
might  assist  the  others.  He  assented  with  a  wave  of  his  hand. 
Miss  Grant  came  and  stood  beside  me.  The  crew  worked  with 
a  will,  thinking  perhaps  that  the  lives  of  the  men  in  the  boat 
away  out  upon  the  dirty,  shrouded  jumble — though  God  knows 
where  they  would  be  now — might  depend  upon  their  smartness. 
But  it  was  three-quarters  of  an  hour  before  the  sailor  whom  I  had 
relieved  came  to  take  the  wheel  from  me  again,  by  which  time 
the  brig  was  once  more  close-hauled  under  topsails,  main-top- 
gallant-sail, foresail,  and  trysail,  eating  her  way  into  the  thickness, 
that  was  denser  than  ever  it  had  been  at  anv  other  time  of  the 
day,  and  that  was  already  deepening  in  shade  to  the  gathering 
shadows  of  an  early  night  above  it.  Yet  till  the  close  of  the 
second  dog-watch  Broadwater  went  on  ratching  in  short  Ttoards, 
the  men  working  without  a  murmur,  without  any  hint  of  mutin- 
ous reluctance  in  their  movements,  for  the  hope  they  yet  had  of 
surging  within  sight  of  the  boat.  But  at  eight  o'clock  it  was 
blade  night — theblackerforrainandhaze — the  seas  were  shoulder- 
ing blocks  of  gloom,  with  wan  glares  of  foam  here  and  there,  and 
a  smart  rattling  of  wet  flinging  to  the  ear  like  discharges  of 
musketry  from  the  obscurity  along  the  waist  to  the  forecastle. 

I  was  then  below  with  Miss  Grant,  botli  of  us  as  wearied  as 
if  we  had  shared  in  the  toils  of  the  seamen,  and  as  anxious 
about  the  look-out  as  we  were  depressed  by  the  incidents  of  the 
day.  But  for  our  private  stock  of  provisions,  no  food  would 


WE  LOSE  FOUR  MEN  135 

have  crossed  our  lips,  for  the  cook  had  been  called  from  his 
galley  to  help  work  the  ship ;  no  man  had  been  told  off  to 
wait  upon  us  aft,  and  we  must  have  gone  to  bed  after  a  fast 
lasting  from  breakfast,  but  for  the  tins  of  cooked  delicacies, 
the  tongues,  biscuits,  and  wines  I  had  been  wise  enough  to 
liberally  provide  ourselves  with. 

It  was  two  bells  in  the  first  watch  when  Broad  water  came 
below.  I  had  long  before  trimmed  and  lighted  the  cabin-lantern, 
and  was  sitting  at  the  table  near  Miss  Grant  smoking  a  cheroot, 
and  endeavouring  to  extract  a  little  cheerfulness  or  mind  out 
of  a  glass  of  brandy-and-water.  This  was  the  first  time  the 
captain  had  left  the  deck  since  he  had  fetched  his  old  blunder- 
buss, lie  threw  down  his  sou'- wester  that  was  streaming  with 
wet,  pulled  off  his  shaggy  pea-coat,  which  sparkled  to  the 
lantern-light  with  the  moisture  upon  it  as  though  it  were 
crystallized,  and  all  in  silence  opened  a  locker,  took  out  a  knife 
and  fork,  a  large  cube  of  corned  beef  upon  a  tin  plate,  a  couple 
of  sea-biscuits,  a  bottle  of  rum,  and  a  tin  pannikin ;  and  then 
sitting  clown,  squared  his  elbows  and  fell  to  with  the  avidity  of 
a  famished  hound,  never  offering  to  speak.  However,  it  was 
ridiculous  to  suppose  that  I  was  to  be  kept  in  ignorance  of 
such  arrangements  as  he  had  made,  and  such  schemes  as  he  had 
decided  upon  :  and  as  it  was  no  moment  to  recall  his  insult,  I 
waited  until  he  had  finished  his  supper,  particularly  keeping 
silent  until  he  had  drained  his  pannikin,  and  then  said  bluntly, 
'I  suppose  you've  given  up  all  hope  of  finding  the  boat?' 

'  All  hope,'  he  answered  huskily,  taking  a  surly  squint  at  me 
with  his  little  heartless  eyes. 

'  You  are  now  without  a  mate/  said  I,  feeling  Miss  Grant's 
hand  coming  to  my  arm  with  a  sudden  pressure  of  her  fingers 
to  the  uncontrollable  dismay  which  followed  Broadwater's  hope- 
less answer.  '  You  are  now  in  a  quandary,  and  can  command 
me  if  you  like.' 

'  Command  ye  in  what  way  ? '  he  answered,  filling  his  panni- 
kin afresh. 

'  I'll  take  the  mate's  berth  if  you  choose,  but  of  course  only  to 
the  extent  of  helping  you  in  the  navigation  of  the  vessel.' 

'  Thank'ee,'  he  answered,  in  his  roughest  manner.  '  I  hope  to 
be  able  to  do  without  you.' 

'  I'm  very  glad  indeed  to  hear  it,'  said  I,  and  indeed  I  spoke 
the  truth.  '  But  you  surely  do  not  intend  to  keep  a  look-out 
day  and  night  alone  ? '  I  added,  for  it  seemed  to  me  unimaginablo 
that  he  should  find  a  man  forward  fit  to  intrust  the  charge  of 
the  brig  to  whilst  he  was  taking  rest. 

He  appeared  to  struggle  with  his  temper,  as  though  he  could 
not  force  his  inclination  to  answer  me  through  his  bad  and 
sullen  humour. 

Miss  Grant  suddenly  said,  '  Captain  Broad  water,  we  have  a 
right  to  know  what  measures  you  have  taken  for  our  safety.' 
Her  imperious  look  appeared  to  affect  him  as  a  command, 


136  MAROONED 

*  You'll  not  suppose,  mum '  said  he,  'that  I  should  be  down 
here  a  taking  of  it  easy,  with  the  idea,'  he  continued,  dragging 
his  great  watch  out  and  looking  at  it,  '  of  turning  in  in  a  few 
minutes  for  a  snatch  of  rest,  if  I  hadn't  left  matters  ship-shape 
up  above,'  with  a  jerk  of  his  thumb  at  the  deck. 

'  I  am  glad  you  have  found  somebody  you  can  trust,'  said  L 

'I  dessay  ye  are,'  said  he,  'and  so  am  I,  I'm  sure  ;'  and  then 
rising  and  returning  the  remains  of  his  supper  and  his  bottle  of 
rum  to  the  locker  whence  he  had  extracted  them,  he  picked  up 
his  coat  and  sou'-wester  and  went  to  his  berth. 

It  might  have  made  ^  the  _  stoutest-hearted  man  feel  a  bit 
nervous  to  learn  that  this  brig  was  virtually  abandoned  by  her 
captain  to  her  crew,  who  were  full  of  mutiny  and  hatred  of  him, 
•whilst  he  lay  snoring  below.  Of  course,  seeing  how  matters  had 
come  about,  Broad  water  could  not  help  himself;  by  which  I 
mean  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  remain  in  sole  charge  of 
the  deck  night  and  day  until  Rio  was  reached  ;  therefore,  since 
he  would  not  let  me  act  as  mate — and  it  was  quite  conceivable 
that  the  old  fool  may  have  imagined  me  as  mutinously  disposed 
towards  his  discipline  as  he  had  that  afternoon  insolently 
affirmed  me  to  be — it  was  necessary  for  him  to  appoint  some 
forecastle  hand  to  the  post ;  but  it  was  a  sort  of  surrender  that 
filled  me  with  uneasiness.  I  did  not  attempt  to  conceal  my 
fears  from  Miss  Grant ;  indeed  she  understood  the  danger  of 
our  situation  as  well  as  L 

'Any  man,'  I  exclaimed,  'would  scarcely  conceive  it  possible 
that  an  old  sea-captain  such  as  Broadwater  should  coolly  go 
to  bed  and,  supposing  he  sleeps  till  midnight,  leave  his  brig 
absolutely  at  the  mercy  of  her  crew  till  then — at  the  mercy  of  a 
set  of  men  whose  hatred  of  him  all  through  must  have  been 
immeasurably  heightened  to-day  by  his  barbarous  treatment 
of  the  poor  cabin-boy,  and  the  loss  of  men  that  followed.  But 
then,  what  is  the  wretched  old  creature  to  do?  He  must  get 
some  rest  during  the  twenty-four  hours,  or  else  entirely  lose  the 
very  little  sense  that  he  was  born  with.  I'll  step  on  deck  and 
see  if  I  can  make  out  who  it  is  that  has  charge.' 

It  was  a  black  night.  The  brig  had  been  brought  to  her 
course  again,  though  no  doubt  some  men  in  Broad  water's  situ- 
ation would  have  kept  their  vessel  hove-to  till  dawn,  in  the 
hope  of  picking  up  the  missing  boat.  The  dusk  was  too  thick 
to  enable  me  to  make  out  what  canvas  we  were  under.  There 
was  not  much  weight  of  wind,  however,  but  it  was  charged  with 
damp,  and  one  found  a  heaviness  in  it  for  that  reason  perhaps 
when  the  weather-roll  of  the  vessel  brought  it  in  a  gust  to  the 
face.  I  walked  right  aft  to  the  helm,  unable  to  distinguish 
anybody  on  deck,  then  caught  sight  of  the  face  of  a  man  named 
Andrew  Wilkins,  who  stooped  his  head  at  the  moment  into  the 
yellow  sheen  flowing  out  of  the  binnacle  to  get  a  better  view 
of  the  card. 

{  said  to  liim, '  Who  has  charge  t ' 


sir 


WE  LOSE  FOUR  MEN  18? 

'Why,  the  blooming  cook,'  he  answered,  -with  a  low  laugh, 

'The  cook?'  I  cried,  thinking  he  joked. 

He  laughed  again,  but  without  merriment,  and  said,  'Yes, 
ir  jit's  old  Drainings  as  is  boss  just  now.' 

'Where  is  he?'  said  I,  drawing  away  from  the  glare  of  the 
binnacle-lamp  to  look  into  the  darkness  forward;  but  it  was 
not  to  be  penetrated. 

'  Somewheres  to  wind'ard,  sir,  if  he  ain't  gone  and  turned  in,' 
he  answered. 

I  was  in  the  act  of  groping  my  way  to  the  weather-side,  when 
it  flashed  upon  me  that  I  might  be  acting  rashly  in  showing 
uneasiness  or  exhibiting  inquisitiveness ;  so  I  just  said  in  a 
careless  voice  to  the  fellow  at  the  wheel,  "Tis  strange  for  a 
captain  to  go  to  the  galley  for  a  chief  mate.  Perhaps  the  cook 
may  have  been  a  shipmaster,  forced  by  adversity  into  boiling 
beef  for  sailors.  I  suppose  he  would  know  what  to  do  should 
heavy  weather  come  along  ? ' 

' 1  heard  the  capt'n  tell  him  what  to  do,'  answered  the  man. 
'Should  anything  happen,  he's  to  hammer  the  deck  with  a 
handspike  over  the  capt'n's  head.  That's  about  as  much  as  can 
be  expected  of  a  cook. 

'  Well,'  said  I,  '  this  is  a  queer  sort  of  voyage  anyhow,  as  the 
Yankees  would  say.  Good-night.'  And  with  that  I  made  my 
way  to  the  hatch,  looking  into  the  blackness  on  the  weather- 
deck  for  the  cook  s  figure,  but  without  seeing  him,  though  I 
don't  say  he  was  not  there,  for  the  sky  was  of  a  raven  hue  ; 
the  very  substance  of  the  quarter-boat  melted  into  it,  and 
the  eye  sought  in  vain  for  a  line  of  shroud,  or  for  any  faintest 
configuration  of  canvas  on  high. 

'  The  cook  in  command  ! '  cried  Miss  Grant,  when  I  gave  her 
the  news  :  '  it  is  ridiculous  !  ...  it  is  dreadful,  Mr.  Musgrave  ! ' 

I  thought  so  too,  though  I  could  not  forbear  a  laugh  at  the 
very  fancy  of  it,  spite  even  of  the  rebuke  my  momentary 
merriment  found  in  the  startled  expression  of  her  eyes. 

'I  suppose,'  said  I,  'that  he  is  tha  one  man  on  board  who 
enjoys  the  captain's  confidence.  He  may  be  the  only  creature 
honestly  disposed,  for  all  we  know,  and  let  us  believe  that 
Broadwater  has  guessed  it.  After  all,  I  dare  say  he  is  as  well 
able  to  keep  a  look-out  as  any  other  man  in  the  vessel ;  and 
absurd  as  the  notion  is,  yet  on  reflection  I  believe  old  Broad- 
water  to  be  right  for  once,  and  that  our  slumbers  are  more 
likely  to  be  secure  with  Master  Cookee  stumping  the  quarter- 
deck with  a  handspike  ready  to  thunder  the  skipper  into 
vigilance,  than  were  one  of  the  sailors  in  charge.' 

However,  though  after  sitting  together  another  hour  I  induced 
her  to  withdraw  to  her  cabin,  it  took  me  a  long  while  to 
persuade  myself  to  follow  her  example,  and  by  that  time  it  was 
hard  upon  midnight.  Once  or  twice  I  looked  through  the  hatch, 
but  the  blackness  as  before  hung  extraordinarily  thick ;  there 
was  nothing  to  be  seen,  and  the  wet  in  the  wind  made  me  glad 


133  MAROONED 

to  return  to  the  shelter  of  the  cabin.  The  brig  rolled  uneasily, 
but  the  motion  was  comparatively  steady,  no  longer  the  half- 
paralyzing  jumps  and  souses  of  the  morning  and  afternoon. 
There  was  a  heavy  gloom  upon  my  spirits.  It  was  not  only  the 
memory  of  the  sight  of  the  cabin-boy  clinging  in  terror  to  the 
boom,  Broadwater's  red  face  full  of  threats  and  menacing 
gestures,  and  the  smile  the  poor  lad  gave  me  as  he  swept  astern  ; 
there  was  the  thought  of  Gordon  and  the  two  fellows  in  the 
boat ;  the  feelings  that  would  be  in  them,  supposing  them  still 
alive,  as  they  tossed  in  their  tiny  cockle-shell  upon  the  dark  hills 
of  sea,  without  the  leanest  phantom  of  star  for  them  to  rest  their 
eyes  upon,  without  a  fragment  of  biscuit  to  appease  their 
hunger,  or  a  drop  of  fresh  water  to  moisten  their  lips.  These  were 
fancies  to  put  such  a  hill  into  the  atmosphere  of  the  cabin  even, 
that  one  shuddered  as  to  an  icy  blast  to  the  mere  muffled  hum 
of  the  wind  moaning  in  the  rigging.  I  rose,  for  sitting  below 
was  like  keeping  a  watch  without  any  purpose  in  it ;  and  besides, 
if  any  one  of  the  sailors  should  peer  through  the  closed  sky- 
lights, and  spy  me  leaning  with  folded  arms  against  the  bulk- 
head wide  awake,  it  might  enter  the  minds  of  the  whole  of  them 
to  believe  that  I  was  in  league  with  the  captain,  practically 
keeping  a  look-out  for  him,  though  covertly ;  and  I  tell  you  the 
mere  idea  of  this  sent  me  to  my  cabin  right  off. 

About  ten  minutes  after  I  had  tumbled  into  my  bunk  I  heard 
a  dull  pounding  noise,  and  instantly  sat  up  in  bed,  not  a  little 
alarmed  by  the  strange  unusual  sound,  until  it  occurred  to  me 
that  it  might  probably  be  the  cook  beating  with  his  handspike 
over  the  captain's  head  to  arouse  him.  The  lamp  in  my  cabin 
was  alight,  though  I  had  dimmed  it.  To  make  sure  of  that  strange 
battering  noise,  I  went  softly  to  my  door  and  looked  out.  The 
door  that  shut  off  the  after-berths  stood  open,  hooked  to  the 
bulkhead,  and  I  had  a  clear  view  of  a  great  part  of  the  state 
cabin,  including  the  companion-steps  past  the  table.  After  an 
interval  of  a  minute  or  two  the  pounding  noise  was  repeated,  and 
now  I  was  certain  that  it  was  the  cook  beating  with  a  handspike. 
I  continued  to  peer,  showing  however  only  as  much  of  my  head 
past  the  door  as  enabled  me  to  use  my  eyes,  for  I  had  no  mind 
to  be  caught  keeping  such  a  look-out  as  this,  either  by  Broad- 
water  or  anybody  else  in  the  brig.  At  the  same  time  I  was 
anxious  to  make  sure  that  the  captain  responded  to  the  cook's 
summons,  for  I  felt  that  it  would  be  possible  for  me  to  obtain 
some  rest  with  the  knowledge  that  the  captain  had  charge  of 
the  vessel.  A  third  time  the  cook  pounded,  on  this  occasion 
very  noisily,  and  with  so  many  hard  thumps  that  one  would 
have  thought  the  hands  were  caulking  the  decks,  or,  worse  still, 
endeavouring  to  beat  some  planks  out.  The  fellow  was  evi- 
dently growing  impatient,  and  he  used  his  handspike  as  though 
he  meant  to  let  the  captain  know  that  he  wanted  to  turn  in. 
Shortly  after  this  third  thunderous  call,  Broadwater  came  out 
growling  like  an  old  dog,  and  giving  the  cook  a  number  of  hard 


I  TAKE  COMMAND  130 

words,  as  though  indeed  the  man  stood  before  him.  But  first 
he  rolled  to  his  locker,  muttering  his  abuse  of  the  cook  without 
intermission,  until  he  silenced  himself  with  a  full  pannikin  of 
rum.  He  then,  after  a  slow  look  round,  went  on  deck,  and  I 
returned  to  my  bunk ;  but  four  bells  had  struck  before  I  fell 
asleep,  so  incessantly  was  I  haunted  by  the  vision  of  the  drown- 
ing lad,  by  thoughts  of  the  missing  boat,  by  recollection  of  the 
strange  melancholy  that  had  fallen  upon  the  spirits  of  Gordon, 
by  contact  as  one  might  say  with  the  mysterious  sheen  of  the 
cold  bow  of  light  we  had  sailed  through,  and  above  all  by  con- 
siderations of  Miss  Grant's  and  my  safety  aboard  this  brig,  with 
.a  drunken  old  tyrant  for  captain,  and  a  cook  for  chief  mate,  and 
as  ship's  company  a  short-handed  crew  charged  to  the  throat 
with  mutiny,  with  one  malignant  and  active  principle  of  evil 
amongst  them  in  the  shape  of  the  half-blood,  to  whom  the  Iron 
Crowns  arrival  at  Bio  or  any  other  port  meant  death ' 


CHAPTER  XIX 

I    TAKE    COMMAND 

S  awakened  by  a  sharp,  persistent  knocking  on  my  cabin- 
door.  '  Who  is  there  ? '  I  callea  out,  scarcely  yet  awake. 

'The  crew  wants  a  word  with  ye,  sir,'  exclaimed  a  deep- 
throated  voice  outside. 

'  Eh,  what's  that  ? '  I  cried,  instantly  startled  into  broad  wake- 
fulness. 

'  The  crew  'ud  be  glad  to  have  a  talk  with  ye,  sir,'  repeated 
the  leather-lunged  voice,  the  tones  of  which,  though  I  might 
have  had  some  memory  of  them  had  I  heard  them  on  deck, 
sounded  most  harshly  unfamiliar,  even  malevolent,  in  the  privacy 
and  retirement  of  these  after-cabins. 

1  All  right,'  I  exclaimed ;  '  give  me  a  minute  or  two  to  dress. 
Who  are  you  ? ' 

'  Terence  Mole,  sir.' 

*  Ha  ! '  said  I,  '  and  where  are  the  others  1 ' 

'All  of  'em  in  the  cabin,  saving  the  chap  at  the  wheel,  and 
Charles,  who's  keeping  a  look-out. 

There  was  broad  daylight  on  the  ocean,  as  a  glance  through 
the  scuttle  assured  me  ;  the  flash  of  sunlight  came  to  the  glass 
of  the  screwed-up  port  in  a  fine- weather  tremble  off  the  waters, 
with  a  commingling  of  atmospheric  blueness  that  made  one 
know  there  was  plenty  of  clear  azure  overhead.  It  was  natural 
that  I  should  wonder  with  all  my  might  what  the  crew  could 
want  with  me  as  I  dressed  myself,  but  not  hastily ;  for  let 
what  might  have  happened,  I  was  resolved  to  oppose  an  aspect 
at  least  of  composure  to  whatever  might  befall,  and  the  first 


140  MAROONED 

condition  of  dignity  was  a  leisurely  observance  of  the  wish  of 
the  crew  to  see  me.  I  looked  at  my  watch,  punctually  timed  by 
every  day's  meridian,  and  found  the  hour  ten  minutes  to  five. 
I  dressed  myself  fully,  lingering  to  wash  my  face  and  hands  and 
brush  my  hairj  trifling  things  to  talk  about  indeed,  but  useful 
to  recall  as  an  instance  at  all  events  of  self-control,  which  to  this 
day  I  am  proud  to  remember ;  for  let  me  tell  you,  knowing  the 
posture  of  the  men  as  I  did,  it  was  enough  to  throw  a  heartier 
mind  than  mine  off  its  balance,  to  be  suddenly  aroused  from  a 
deep  sleep  by  the  wooden  knuckles  of  a  sailor,  and  to  collect 
with  a  half -conscious  ear  from  his  harsh  gruff  accents  that  the 
seamen  of  the  brig  wanted  a  word  with  me. 

I  stepped  into  the  little  passage  with  a  glance  at  Miss  Grant's 
door,  which  was  closed,  though  I  had  no  doubt  she  was  wide 
awake  within,  and  had  overheard  the  sailors'  message  to  me. 
There  were  eight  men  in  the  cabin,  four  of  them  seated  at  the 
table  ;  the  tall  seaman,  Terence  Mole,  leaned  against  a  stancheon 
with  his  arms,  naked  to  the  elbows,  folded  upon  his  breast ;  the 
sixth — the  cook — squatted  at  the  foot  of  the  companion-steps  j 
two  others  marched  to  and  fro  with  their  hands  buried  in  their 
breeches-pockets  ;  but  they  came  to  a  halt  when  they  saw  me. 
The  novelty  of  the  sight  of  these  rough  fellows  seated  or  loung- 
ing about  an  interior  which  I,  with  a  sailor's  experiences  in  me, 
knew  that  at  ordinary  times  they  would  think  of,  in  their  own 
sea-parlour,  as  a  sort  of  holy  ground  in  which  no  foremast  Jack 
was  ever  to  be  heard  of,  unless  he  came  to  catch  a  pig  or  to 
holystone  the  deck  of  it,  was,  I  protest,  as  much  a  shock  in  its 
way  as  if  one  of  the  men  to  my  approach  had  saluted  me  with  a 
levelled  pistoL  The  eastern  sunshine  streamed  upon  the  sky- 
light, and  the  place  was  full  of  the  brilliance  of  the  morning.  I 
noticed  a  sort  of  shagged,  haggard,  worried  look  in  two  or  three 
of  the  hairy,  weather-lined  faces.  Used  as  I  was  to  their  attire 
of  duck-breeches,  loose  shirts,  Scotch  and  other  caps,  and  half- 
boots — though  some  of  them  were  unshod — yet  the  mere  presence 
of  them  in  the  cabin  rendered  their  garb  as  strange  in  my  sight 
as  if  I  had  never  beheld  it  before,  and  I  seemed  to  find  in  the 
first  presentment  of  them  the  most  genuine  imaginable  aspect 
of  outlawry,  abominably  in  conformity  with  every  fancy, 
recollection,  or  imagination  of  mutiny  that  could  occur  to  an 
observer.  The  fellows  who  were  seated  at  the  table  rose  when 
I  entered ;  Mole  quitted  his  lounging  attitude  ;  and  the  cook,  a 
stout,  pale,  sandy-haired  man,  writhed  himself  on  to  his  feet  off 
the  ladder.  I  came  to  a  stand  a  foot  or  two  in  advance  of  the 
doorway  which  conducted  to  the  after-berths,  that  Miss  Grant 
might  hear  what  I  said,  and  gather  from  my  language  the 
import  of  the  speech  of  the  others  if  their  syllables  should  not 
be  always  audible  to  her. 

"What  is  it,  men t '  I  said. 

Mole  dropped  his  folded  arms,  and  passed  the  back  of  one 
great  Laud  in  a  so  it  of  smearing  gesture,  awkward  yet  defiant 


I  TAKE  COMMAND  141 

too,  across  his  forehead,  over  which  his  hair  lay  thick  as  a  mat 
to  his  eyebrows. 

*  We've  thought  it  proper  to  tell  you,  sir,'  he  exclaimed,  *  that 
the  capt'n's  a  missing.' 

*  Missing ! '  I  cried  ;  '  since  when,  do  you  know  1 ' 

_The  cook  came  forward,  and  said  in  a  wheezy  voice,  striking 
his  chest  as  though  he  had  taken  a  chill  there,  '  I  was  on  dooty, 
'cording  to  papting  Broadwater's  orders,  till  midnight ;  then  I 
thumped  him  up  with  a  handspike,  his  instructions  being  I 
wasnt  to  leave  the  deck  on  any  account  till  he  came.  Well,  he 
arrived,  and  I  went  forrads  and  tarned  in.  At  four,  Mole  here 
came  to  say  that  the  capt'n  must  have  gone  below,  as  nothen 
•  was  to  be  seen  of  him.  I  says,  "  That's  odd,  ain't  it  1"  I  says, 
"an'  he  so  pertikler  !  "  Jim  here  had  had  the  wheel  since  four 
bells,  and  1  asked  him  if  he'd  seen  aught  of  the  capt'n,  and  he 
says  that  at  six  bells  the  skipper  looked  into  the  binnacle,  and 
then  went  forrads  again  out  of  sight,  for  it  had  been  as  black 
all  night  as  if  a  man  had  gone  dark  hisself,  and  arter  that  I  saw 
no  more  of  him.' 

'All  that's  right  enough,'  said  the  sailor,  to  whom  the  cook 
referred. 

'  Have  you  looked  for  him  ?'  said  I,  quietly,  fora  sense  of  deep 
insincerity  in  all  this  business  was  creeping  into  me,  spite  of  the 
cook  talking  like  an  honest  man  on  his  oath. 

'  Everywhere  saving  them  there  cabins,'  answered  Mole,  point- 
ing with  his  muscular  arm,  blue  with  devices,  to  the  after-berths. 
There  are  but  two  cabins  vacant,'  said  I ;  '  come  with  me  and 
look  for  yourself.' 

I  threw  open  the  door  of  the  berth  in  which  were  our  private 
stock  of  provisions,  then  the  door  confronting  it,  and  motioning 
Mole  to  precede  me,  returned  to  where  I  had  before  been  standing. 

'  Of  course  you  have  searched  his  own  berth  and  those  near 
it  V  said  L 

'  First  and  foremost  of  all,  naturally '  responded  Mole. 

'  What  is  your  notion  of  the  matter  J  '  I  asked. 

Three  of  them  answered  together,  'He's  overboard.'  Mole 
added,  '  Ne'er  a  doubt  of  it.  Its  all  hands'  opinion.  He  wasn't 
a  man  to  hide  himself;  why  should  her  The  half-caste 
Ladova  laughed  in  his  throat.  '  If  he's  aboard,'  continued  Mole, 
'we  should  have  found  him.  We've  so  overhauled  the  old 
hooker  that  had  he  been  a  rat  we  must  have  come  across  him. 
Ain't  that  right,  lads  ? ' 

'Ay,  ay;'  came  the  reply  in  a  short  growl  from  them  all,  and 
the  cook  in  his  wheezy  voice  added, '  If  he  ben't  gone  to  keep 
poor  Billy  company  my  eyes  ain't  mates.' 

The  suspicion  of  the  insincerity  of  all  this  had  now  grown 
into  a  strong  conviction  that  some  black  deed  had  been  done 
since  I  took  my  last  view  of  Broadwater  as  he  clambered  up  the 
companion-steps.  But  along  with  this  conviction  there  came 
also  clear  perception  that  I  must  not  by  word  or  look  betray 


142  MAROONED 

the  merest  phantom  of  my  thoughts,  otherwise  I  should  be  held 
as  incriminating  as  a  witness,  and  dealt  with  as  one,  I  had  no 
doubt.  My  secret  agitation  was  already  sufficiently  great  to 
render  the  assumption  of  an  air  of  consternation  easy.  I  looked 
from  one  to  another  and  cried,  "Though  I  never  liked  the 
captain,  men  ;  though  I  don't  mind  saying  now  that  he  was  one 
of  the  most  tyrannical  and  ill-mannered  shipmasters  I  ever  met 
or  heard  of  in  my  life,  yet  his  disappearance  is  a  blow  to  the 
lady  and  myself.  The  brig  is  now  without  a  commander, 
without  a  mate,  without  even  a  bo'sun.  ^  How,  think  you,  did 
Captain  Broad  water  meet  his  end  ?  Was  it  an  accident,  do  you 
suppose  ?  He  could  not  have  walked  overboard.'  I  shook  my 
head.  '  My  lads,'  I  said  solemnly, '  I  don't  doubt  but  that  he  com- 
mitted suicide.  He  was  as  a  madman  all  day  yesterday — charged 
me,  men,  me,'  I  cried,  striking  my  breast  with  a  passion- 
ate gesture,  '  with  a  desire  to  work  up  a  mutiny  aboard !  A 
madman,  my  lads  !  a  drunken  lunatic  !  Not  a  shadow  of  doubt 
but  he  destroyed  himself  in  liis  watch  on  deck,  urged  overboard, 
maybe,  by  the  recollection  of  Gordon  and  the  poor  lad  and 
your  two  shipmates — of  all  four  of  whom  he  has  gone  before  his 
God  as  surely  the  murderer  as  if  he  had  slit  the  throat  of  every 
man  of  them  with  his  own  hand.' 

'  Mates,'  cried  Mole,  tossing  his  head  to  clear  the  hair  out  of 
his  eyes,  and  sending  a  fiery  glance  from  one  to  another  of  the 
seamen, '  Mr.  Musgrave's  put  it  as  there's  ne'er  a  man  of  us 
could  have  said  it.  I've  been  a  seafaring  man  eighteen  year 
man  and  boy,  in  all  sorts  of  craft,  from  the  likes  of  this  snorter 
— he  spat  upon  the  deck — '  away  up  to  the  Atlantic  clippers ;  but 
of  all  capt  ns ' — he  raised  his  arm,  with  a  face  that  darkened  to 
the  sudden  fierce  restraint  he  put  upon  himself  j  |  but  he's  gone,' 
he  added,  letting  his  hand  fall ;  'committed  suicide,  as  you  say, 
sir ;  a  thing  most  sartin — past  all  doubting,  in  fact ;  and  here 
we  are,  Mr.  Musgrave,  to  find  out  what's  to  do.' 

I  could  see  with  half  an  eye  that  the  impression  I  had  sought 
to  produce  was  made.  I  thrust  my  hands  in  a  careless  sort  of 
way  into  my  breeches-pockets,  and  fell  to  pacing  the  deck. 
1  One  thing,'  1  exclaimed, '  has  followed  so  fast  on  top  of  another, 
that  though  there  ought  to  be  something  staggering  in  Captain 
Broadwater's  suicide,  I  find,'  I  said,  with  a  half-laugh  and  a 
shrug  of  the  shoulders,  'that  it  scarcely  so  much  as  surprises 
me.  But,'  I  continued,  addressing  Mole, '  you  ask  what's  to  be 
done  ?  Have  you  and  your  mates  a  scheme  1 ' 

'  Well,'  he  answered,  speaking  with  return  to  his  first  awkward, 
defiant  manner, '  when  these  men  and  me,  after  giving  the  brig 
a  thorough  overhaul,  was  agreed  that  the  skipper  was  gone,  we 
tamed  to  and  asked  one  another  what  was  to  be  done.  It 
didn't  need  much  debating.  It's  been  onderstood  all  along 
forrads  that  you  were  a  sailor  yourself  equal  to  navigating  a 
ship,  and  so  of  course  we  at  once  settled  upon  asking  you  to 
take  charge.' 


I  TAKE   COMMAND  143 

I  nodded,  taking  care  to  preserve  a  careless  manner  to  guard 
against  exposure  of  the  worry  in  me  that  grew  more  and  more 
consuming  as  I  listened. 

'  You  will  take  charge,  sir  ? '  said  Mole,  interrogatively. 

'  Certainly,  if  you  wish  it,'  said  I. 

He  looked  round  at  the  others  with  a  faint  inclination  of  his 
head,  and  continued,  revolving  his  cap  in  his  hand  with  his  eyes 
upon  it,  '  Next  consideration  was,  where  to  go.'  He  looked  up 
at  me  without  seeming  to  lift  his  eyelids. 

'  Where  to  go  ! '  I  cried,  startled  out  of  my  feigned  posture  of 
indifference  by  the  fellows  words.  '  We're  bound  to  Rio.  Shall 
we  not  proceed  there  ? ' 

""    Every  man  of  them  wagged  his  head  with  a  sort  of  groaning 
'No  !  no !  no ! '  full  of  an  unmistakable  note  of  emphasis. 

'  We're  all  resolved  not  to  sail  the  brig  to  Rio,'  said  Mole,  in 
an  aggressive  way  that  was  like  a  surly  hint  to  me  not  to  argue 
the  point ;  '  we've  been  turning  the  matter  over,  and  as  we  larnt 
from  Mr.  Gordon  yesterday  that  our  latitude  was  a  few  degrees 
to  the  norrads  of  twenty,  we've  settled  to  ask  you  to  navigate 
the  Iron  Crown  to  the  West  Indies.' 

'  The  West  Indies  !  You  are  naming  a  number  of  islands 
which  cover  a  wide  area  of  ocean,'  I  answered  coldly ;  for  it  had 
come  to  me  like  an  inspiration  that,  if  I  valued  my  own  and 
Miss  Grant's  safety,  I  must  consent  to  do  these  men's  bidding 
without  so  much  as  even  a  falter  in  the  speech  in  which  I 
assented  ;  that  practically  the  brig  was  theirs,  and  I  and  my 
companion  absolutely  in  their  power  ;  and  that  my  sole  policy 
was  to  appear  as  though  I  was  willing  to  be  of  them,  though  my 
approach  must  exhibit  a  little  natural  hesitation.  '  What  part 
of — what  island  in  the  West  Indies  have  you  in  your  mind  1 

'  Neighbourhood  of  Cuba,'  answered  one  of  the  men. 

'Bill,  leave  it  to  me  if  you  please,'  exclaimed  Mole,  turning 
upon  the  speaker  with  a  frown.  'Our  notion  is,  sir,'  he  con- 
tinued, addressing  me  with  a  touch  of  respect  in  his  manner  that 
was  not  a  little  welcome,  'that  you  should  navigate  the  brig 
towards  the  island  of  Cuba,  and  give  us  notice  when  we're 
within  a  day's  sail  of  it.  Mr.  Musgrave,'  he  continued,  flinging 
down  his  cap,  extending  his  left  hand  and  resting  the  fist  of 
the  right  one  in  it,  '  you've  been  a  sailor  yourself — you've  seen 
what  we've  suffered — you  onderstand  the  situation  we're  in — let 
it,  sir,  as  between  seafaring  men,  be  all  plain  sailing  between 
you  and  us.  There's  been  murder  done  aboard  this  here  craft 
as  you  know,  sir  ;  and,'  he  proceeded  deliberately,  almost  grind- 
ing out  the  words  as  he  delivered  them,  '  we  don't  intend  that 
the  man  as  made  away  with  Mr.  Bothwell  shall  be  took.  We 
don't  want  no  interference.  We  don't  intend  that  the  Iron 
Croum  shall  be  boarded.  We  don't  mean  to  be  laid  hold  of,  and 
charged  with  mutineering,  and  punished  for  it.  D'ye  see  that, 
Mr.  Musgrave?  We've  got  no  idea  of  coming  to  any  sort  of 
harm  that  we  can  provide  against.  What's  done's  done  '  Notlieu's, 


144  MAROONED 

happened  but  what's  been  desaryed,  sir — by  _  God,  desarved, 
mates  1 '  he  almost  roared  out,  striking  his  fist  violently  into  the 
palm  of  his  hand^  then  suddenly  folding  his  arms  upon  his 
breast,  he  added,  in  a  changed  voice  charged  with  menace, 
'  That's  the  situation,  sir,  and  we  want  to  know  if  you'll  help 
us.' 

'  On  certain  conditions,'  said  L 

'  What  '11  they  be  ? '  he  exclaimed,  quickly  and  suspiciously. 

I  surveyed  him  a  moment  whilst  I  thought,  thec^held  up  one 
finger  and  said,  'The  lady  must  have  the  sarfe  privileges  of 
privacy  which  she  has  enjoyed  down  to  the  present  moment.' 

He  took  a  view  of  the  others,  and  bringing  his  eyes  slowly  to 
mine  said, '  The  lady  '11  have  no  call  to  be  afraid  of  us,  sir.  She'll 
lind  us  sailors  and  men'  A  grunt  of  assent  from  the  others 
followed  this. 

'  Thank  you  for  saying  so,'  said  I ;  '  if  ever  a  woman  deserved 
the  kindness  of  a  crew  she  does.  Her  heart  has  been  with  you 
from  the  beginning  in  your  troubles.' 

'  Yes,  by  the  Virgin,  that's  true ! '  cried  the  half-caste  Ladova, 
fetching  the  table  a  blow  with  his  fist. 

'As  consarns  the  lady,  sir,'  said  Mole,  'set  your  mind  at  ease. 
What's  your  other  conditions  1 ' 

4 1  must,  with  her,  have  the  exclusive  use  of  this  cabin.' 

One  of  them  cried, '  You're  welcome  enough  to  it.  The  fok'sle's 
good  enough  for  poor  sailor  men.' 

'  It's  as  Thomas  there  says,'  exclaimed  Mole, '  the  fok'sle's  good 
enough  for  us.  We  don't  want  no  cabin.  What's  your  other 
conditions  ? ' 

'I  have  named  them  all,'  I  answered.  'You'll  provide,  I 
suppose,  for  our  comfort  here — tell  some  one  of  you  off  to  bring 
our  meals  along  1 ' 

'  You'll  see  to  that,  cook,'  said  Mole,  turning  upon  him. 

'  Ay '  exclaimed  the  other, '  that  '11  be  all  right,  sir.  The  food  '11 
be  cooked  as  afore,  and  sarved  as  afore,  if  it  comes  to  my  having 
to  wait  on  ye  myself.' 

'  Men,'  said  I,  '  I  can  expect  no  more,  and  I  am  satisfied.  You 
have  met  me  fairly  and  spoken  to  me  honestly  ;  and  whilst  you 
continue  faithful  to  the  understanding  that  now  exists  between 
us,  you'll  find  me  as  staunch  as  if  I  nad  been  one  of  you  from 
the  beginning,  and  the  most  ill-used  of  you  too.  There  are  two 
men  on  deck — you  answer  for  it  that  they  will  be  satisfied  with 
our  arrangement  1 ' 

'  Yes,'  answered  Mole, '  specially  may  Charles  be  answered  for. 
A  man  whose  soul  has  turned  black  inside  him,  as  his  has,  by 
the  shadder  o'  the  gallows,  ain't  going  to  be  very  exacting  in  his 
arrangements  to  get  rid  of  the  cuss.  Charles  will  agree,  sir ;  so 
will  t'other.1 

'  Be  it  so,'  said  I ;  '  and  now  I'll  step  into  the  captain's  cabin 
for  a  sight  of  his  charts  and  the  log-book  there,  that  I  may  shape 
»  course  to  Cuba.  That's  it,  I  think  ? ' 


I  TAKE  COMMAND  145 

*  Right,  sir,'  exclaimed  Mole.  Then  looking  at  the  others  he 
said,  \Lads,  there's  nothing  I've  forgot  to  say,  is  there  ] ' 

There  was  some  scratching  of  heads  and  shuffling  of  feet,  and 
then  one  said,  'No,  everything's  been  said',  Terry,  I  think :'  and 
another,  'Mr.  Musgrave  consents  to  flake  command,  ana  steer 
the  vessel  for  Cuba,  giving  us  a  day's  notice  of  its  heaving  into 
view,  and  I  don't  know  that  there's  anything  more  that  we 
wanted  to  see  him  about;'  but  a  third  cried,  'Ay,  but  Mr. 
Musgrave  11  want  some  one  to  stand  watch  and  watch  with 
him.  Who's  to  do  it  ? ' 

'You're  capt'n  now,  sir.'  said  Mole,  rounding  upon  me,  but 
speaking  very  civilly  ;  'its  for  you  to  choose  one  of  us  to  act 
as  your  mate.  The  crew  '11  be  satisfied  with  your  choice,  no 
matter  who  you  fix  upon.' 

'  Then,'  said  I, '  Mr.  Mole,  I  choose  you.' 

The  calling  him  '  mister '  set  the  whole  of  the  fellows  on  the 
broad  grin. 

'  Very  well,  sir,'  said  Mole.  '  Lads,  ye  can  get  f orrads  now.  I'll 
keep  a  look-out,  capt'n,  ontil  ye  come  up.'  Secretly  confounded 
and  dismayed  as  I  was  by  all  this  business,  yet  his  calling  me 
'  captain '  made  me  smile  spite  of  myself,  as  the  others  had  on 
my  terming  him  'mister.  A  general  laugh  followed,  but 
nothing  more  was  said  as  the  whole  body  of  them  went  quietly 
up  the  ladder  and  disappeared  through  the  companion-hatch. 

I  stood  a  moment  or  two  grasping  a  stancheon,  with  a  hand 
to  my  forehead,  oppressed  by  such  a  sense  of  bewilderment  that 
it  was  as  sickening  in  its  way  as  a  bad  fit  of  giddiness.  But 
I  rallied  swiftly,  and  observing  Miss  Grant's  door  to  remain 
closed,  stepped  at  once  to  the  cabin  that  had  been  occupied  by 
Broadwater.  I  entered  it  with  no  small  feeling  of  awe.  That 
he  had  been  foully  made  away  with  I  did  not  for  an  instant 
doubt,  and  the  shadow  of  the  crime  seemed  to  lie  like  a  material 
gloom  upon  the  atmosphere  of  the  plain  interior. 

I  was  in  the  mood,  indeed,  just  then  to  be  shocked  and  startled 
by  little  things,  and  I  am  not  ashamed  to  own  that  I  recoiled 
as  though  the  ghost  of  the  skipper  stood  before  me  to  the  sight 
that  first  met  my  eye  on  opening  the  door,  of  a  pea-jacket  and  a 
sou'-wester  on  top  of  it  hanging  together  by  the  same  hook,  and 
under  the  jacket  a  pair  of  breeches  arched,  empty  as  they  were, 
to  the  exact  posture  Broadwater's  shanks  exhibited  in  life.  I 
protest,  the  suit  of  clothes,  with  the  thatch  of  the  sou'-wester 
coming  down  abaft  the  coat,  looked  so  astonishingly  like  the  old 
skipper,  that  for  the  instant  I  thought  he  had  hung  himself  with 
liis  face  to  the  bulkhead.  There  was  a  bunk  in  the  corner  with 
the  bed-clothes  tumbled ;  over  it  a  short  hanging  shelf  holding 
a  few  nautical  books ;  in  a  corner  another  table  on  ^  which 
•were  a  quadrant-case,  a  chronometer,  a  few  mathematical  instru- 
ments, and,  very  conspicuous,  Broadwater's  huge  silver  turnip 
watch.  The  soles  of  a  pair  of  sea-boots,  one  foot  lying  upon 
another,  glimmered  out  from  the  gloom  under  the  bunk,  as 

L 


146  MAROONED 

though  the  captain  lay  drunk  and  silent  in  the  darkness  there. 
I  took  notice,  though  now  I  wonder  that  I  should  have  had  eyes 
for  such  trifling  details,  of  a  likeness  of  Broadwater  and,  as  I 
supposed,  of  his  wife  facing  each  other ;  two  heads  cut  out  in 
black  paper,  with  streaks  of  bronze  to  define  the  lineaments, 
mounted  on  a  white  ground.  There  was  a  canvas  bag  of  charts 
leaning  dropsically  against  the  head  of  the  bunk,  and  in  a  roll 
alongside  it  was  a  chart  of  the  North  Atlantic,  which  on  open- 
ing it  I  found  '  pricked '  down  to  noon  on  the  preceding  day. 
The  mate's  log-book  was  upon  the  table.  The  writing  in  it  was 
BothwelTs  down  to  the  time  of  his  murder ;  a  very  neat,  clean, 
almost  ladylike  hand,  that  threw  into  grotesque  contrast  old 
Broadwater's  sprawling,  absurdly  ill-spelt  entries.  Gordon,  I 
suppose,  poor  tellow,  had  been  without  literature  enough  to 
qualify  him  to  '  keep '  the  book.  Having  made  the  necessary 
calculations  to  enable  me  to  shape  the  course  the  men  desired,  I 
quitted  the  berth,  grateful  to  escape  an  atmosphere  in  which  I 
breathed  with  difficulty,  and  was  passing  through  my  cabin  on 
my  way  to  the  deck  when  J  caught  sight  of  Miss  Grant  looking 
out  through  her  door.  I  immediately  went  to  her.  There  was 
a  resolved,  quiet  expression  in  her  face,  and  her  voice  was 
without  tremor  as  she  said,  'I  overheara  all  that  passed  in 
the  cabin.  You  do  not  doubt  that  the  captain  has  been 
murdered  ? ' 

'I  do  not,' I  replied;  'but  the  men  must  not  imagine  that 
we  suspect  them.' 

*  How  will  they  treat  us  ? ' 

'  Oh,  they  are  well  disposed,  respectful  in  their  manner  to  me, 
and  they  consented  at  once  to  my  request  that  the  after  part 
of  the  vessel  should  be  used  only  by  us.  This  was  more  than 
I  had  dared  hope.  You  will  have  heard  their  demand  that  I 
should  navigate  the  vessel  to  Cuba  ? ' 

'  Yes,'  she  exclaimed,  catching  her  breath  quickly ;  '  it  will  be 
a  roundabout  way  to  Bio,  if  ever  we  get  there.'  She  smiled 
faintly  and  sighed. 

'  Never  fear,  we  shall  get  there,'  said  I,  cheerfully.  '  Broadwater 
has  to  be  thanked  for  this  abominable  muddle.  I  foresaw  it 
all.  I  was  certain  that  the  men  would  never  suffer  this  vessel 
to  proceed  to  her  destination,  call  it  Bio  or  any  other  place, 
under  a  captain  whose  evidence  would  hang  the  man  who  had 
freed  them  from  the  mate's  tyranny.  But  let  us  most  anxiously 
bear  in  mind,  Miss  Grant,  that  our  policy  is  not  to  know  that 
Broadwater  has  been  made  away  with.' 

'Oh,  I  see  that  clearly,'  she  answered. 

'  He  has  committed  suicide.  Dwell  upon  this  view,  and  the 
thought  of  it  will  become  a  habit,  and  we  shall  be  the  safer  to 
that  extent.  There  is  plenty  of  time  before  us  in  which  to  talk 
over  our  position  and  make  plans.  I  will  now  go  on  deck  and 
alter  the  vessel's  course.  The  men  must  believe  me  honestly 
disposed — indeed  I  most  prove  myself  so;  for  let  them  bio 


I  TAKE  COMMAND  H7 

called  murderers — mutineers — the  blood  that  has  been  shed  is 
assuredly  on  the  heads  of  Broadwater  and  Bothwell.' 

I  raised  her  hand  to  my  lips  and  went  on  deck.  The  morning 
was  as  brilliant  as  any  that  nad  ever  shone  over  us.  There  was 
a  light  wind  from  the  north-east,  which  I  might  have  accepted 
as  the  first  breathings  of  the  regular  trades  but  for  the  absence 
of  the  familiar  clouds  which  float  like  signals  set  in  the  blue 
heavens  to  mark  the  confines  of  these  gracious  and  serviceable 

Sales.  The  whole  of  the  eastern  sea  stretched  in  a  rippling 
azzle  as  of  wrinkled  quicksilver,  of  so  fiery  an  effulgence  that 
the  weeping  eye  went  instantly  from  it  to  the  west  for  the 
relief  it  got  from  the  dark  blue  water  there,  and  the  soothing 
azure  of  the  sky  that  sloped  down  to  the  soft  liquid  boundary. 
I  ran  a  swift  glance  around  the  horizon,  but  there  was  nothing 
to  be  seen.  The  brig  was  under  the  shortened  canvas  of  the 
preceding  night ;  main-topgallant-sail  set,  mainsail  furled,  tack 
of  the  trysail  hauled  up,  a  jib  and  the  lighter  staysails  stowed. 
I  found  Mole  pacing  the  deck  with  the  conscious  looks  of  a 
person  in  authority.  Though  it  was  yet  early  the  cook  had 
lighted  the  fire,  and  most  of  the  men  were  gathered  about  the 
little  caboose,  holding  pots  of  hot  coffee,  some  munching  at 
biscuits,  others  smoking.  There  was  a  suggestion  of  orderliness 
amongst  them  that  satisfied  my  eye.  It  was  natural  perhaps 
that,  recollecting  the  ugly  stain  on  the  cabin-floor,  I  should  have 
thrown  a  hurried  glance  over  the  quarter-deck  planking  for  a 
like  hint  that  th'is  time  should  concern  Broadwater;  but  all 
glistened  sand- white  to  the  sun,  with  no  further  dyes  than  the 
violet  pendulous  shadows  of  spar,  sail,  and  rigging.  I  stepped 
aft  to  the  binnacle,  where  Mole  at  once  joined  me. 

'  The  course  to  Cuba,'  said  I,  '  running  a  line  to  the  midship 
bearings  of  the  island,  is  west  by  south.  Better  get  your  yards 
braced  in  and  make  sail  upon  the  vessel.' 

He  instantly  sung  out, '  Hands  to  the  braces  !  Square  the  yards 
for  Cuba,  bullies  ! ' 

The  men  drained  their  pots  and  sprang  to  the  ropes.  Never 
from  the  hour  of  getting  the  anchor  off  Deal  had  they  exhibited 
such  hearty  nimbleness.  Their  songs  had  the  true  ring,  and 
their  notes  swept  aloft  to  the  hollows  of  the  canvas,  and 
away  into  the  airy  blue  over  the  side  with  the  joyous  echo  of 
the  homeward-bounder's  chorus.  I  motioned  the  man  at  the 
helm  to  put  the  wheel  over,  and  the  brig  slowly  floated  round 
with  her  stern  to  the  sun,  and  the  wide  soft  heave  of  the  sea  coming 
along  under  the  light  wind  to  the  blue  shadow  of  her  starboard 
quarter  on  the  water.  '  Steady  I '  said  I ; '  now  hold  her  at  that, 
my  man.' 

'  Cuba  11  be  under  the  bow  then  at  this  t '  said  he,  with  such  a 
puckering  of  his  face  to  the  grin  which  overspread  it,  that  it 
inade  one  think  of  an  old  walnut-shell. 

'  Yes,'  said  I,  '  in  heading  as  you  go  well  be  running  the  island 
down  in  good  time.' 

L  2 


149  MAROONED 

He  leaned  from  the  wheel  to  discharge  a  quantity  of  tobacco- 
juice  over  the  stern.  '  Well,'  said  he, '  better  a  light  pocket  than 
a  heavy  heart.  Therell  be  no  paying  off  this  voyage,  I  suppose. 
But,  thank  the  Lard,  there's  been  plenty  o'  paying  out'  He 
uttered  Broad-water's  name,  calling  curses  upon  it  in  accents  by 
no  means  whispered,  and  out  of  the  fulness  of  his  soul  fell  a- 
talkingto  the  brig  with  his  eyes  on  the  compass-card  that  swung 
sluggishly  to  the  lubber's  point. 

I  stood  alone  watching  the  men  making  sail  upon  the  brig. 
Mole  worked  with  the  others,  pulling  hard,  raising  encouraging 
shouts,  and  springing  here  ana  there  with  the  zeal  of  a  man  who 
considers  it  his  duty  to  set  an  example.  Events  had  come  in 
such  a  hustling  throng  that  in  sober  truth  I  had  scarcely  yet 
had  time  to  realize  our  position.  Now  as  my  eye  went  to  the 
men  aloft  loosening  the  sails,  and  the  fellows  below  bawling  out 
at  the  sheets  and  halliards,  I  could  find  a  moment  for  reflection. 
If  Broadwater  had  been  murdered,  it  was  hard  to  imagine,  by  the 
hearty,  careless  behaviour  and  half -jocose  airs  of  the  crew,  that 
they  knew  of  it.  Yet  if  murder  had  been  done  it  would  be  sheer 
idleness  to  feign  that  the  men  could  be  ignorant  of  it.  There 
was  always  the  fellow  at  the  wheel  to  stand  looking  on  as  a 
witness.  If  Broadwater  had  made  away  with  himself,  the  splash 
of  him  as  he  went  overboard  must  have  been  a  distinct  sound  fit 
to  catch  any  ear,  even  above  all  such  surly,  weltering  noises  as 
were  rising  out  of  the  blackness  last  night,  from  the  forecastle 
head  to  the  binnacle  ;  unless  indeed  the  old  man,  with  the  sleek, 
secret,  wary  cunning  of  the  sailor  who  had  gone  to  his  account 
in  the  English  Channel,  had  slipped  in  the  darkness  into  the  lee 


main-chains,  and  then  softly  dropped  into  the  sea. 

But  this  was  to  suppose  that  he  had  destroyed  himself,  an 
idea  not  to  be  entertained  for  the  space  of  a  breath  in  the  face 
of  the  memory  of  a  nature  which  proved  him  to  have  been  so 
grossly  of  the  earth,  that  one  would  as  soon  think  of  a  hog  ter- 
minating its  existence.  No !  if  he  were  out  of  the  ship,  then  he 
was  a  murdered  man ;  which  being  past  all  doubt,  I  entered  into 
some  swift  speculations  as  to  the  manner  of  his  death  :  and  there 
being  no  hint  upon  the  gleaming  platform  of  the  deck  of  the  use 
of  the  knife,  I  concluded  that  he  had  been  stunned  and  dropped 
overboard  whilst  still  insensible.  One  man  could  have  done  this. 
Heavy  as  the  square  form  of  old  Broadwater  was,  one  pair  of 
hands  might  have  sufficed  to  drag  the  breathless  body  to  the 
rail,  and  with  vigorous  upheaval  swing  it  into  a  somersault 
over  the  bulwarks.  Guilt,  like  terror,  will  often  put  a  grip  of 
steel  into  nerveless  fingers.  But  it  was  not  to  be  supposed 
there  were  no  witnesses  to  this  crime.  Broadwater  was  not  the 
man  to  let  the  watch  on  deck  skulk  even  in  the  blackest  hour ; 
therefore  there  would  have  been  most  of  the  sailors  on  the 
move  as  observers  of  all  that  could  happen,  from  the  forecastle 
to  where  the  quarter-deck  began ;  whilst  aft  was  the  helmsman 
with  eyes  for  the  rest  of  the  ship  there.  Broadwater  had  been 


I  TAKE  COMMAND  149 

murdered,  and  all  hands  knew  it !  My  heart  turned  sick  and 
cold  in  me  to  the  bare  recollection  of  what  had  occurred  during 
our  execrable  voyage,  from  the  hour  of  Cooper's  suicide  to  this 
moment,  and  I  turned  with  a  sense  of  faintness  to  the  rail,  and 
lay  over  it  a  minute  or  two  to  recover  myself,  half-distraught 
by  the  conflict  of  emotions  which  surged  up  into  my  head. 

I  felt  a  hand  upon  my  shoulder.  I  started  vehemently  to  the 
touch  from  my  bitter  mood  of  apprehension,  and  confronted 
Miss  Grant. 

'There  can  be  no  objection  to  my  coming  on  deck,  Mr. 
Musgrave?'  she  exclaimed. 

'  None,'  I  answered ; '  the  men  have  promised  not  to  trouble 
either  of  us.  We  must  trust  them — we  cannot  do  otherwise.' 

She  looked  at  me  earnestly.  I  don't  doubt  I  was  worn  and 
haggard  enough  to  account  for  her  concerned,  inquiring  gaze. 
She  was  very  pale,  but  I  instantly  noticed  an  expression  of 
decision  in  her  face  as  of  a  mind  that  has  formed  a  resolution 
from  which  nothing  is  to  divert  it.  Her  black  eyes  looked  at 
me  with  a  full,  steadfast  shining.  It  was  manifest  that  the  true 
spirit  of  this  girl,  which  had  been  bowed  a  little  as  I  had  last 
night  remarked,  had  recovered  its  old  natural,  erect,  heroic  posture. 

'Let  us  walk,'  she  said.  'It  cannot  matter  that  the  men 
should  see  us  together  conversing.  They  must  know  we  do  so 
below  when  out  of  sight  of  them.' 

'A  moment,'  I  exclaimed.  '  Mr.  Mole  1 '  I  sung  out,  'get  top- 
mast and  topgallant-stunsails  aloft.  Crowd  on  all  canvas.  You 
want  heels,  as  we  do.' 

'  Ay,  ay,  sir ! '  He  re-echoed  my  orders  promptly.  Had  he 
been  mate  throughout  he  could  not  have  fitted  the  post  more 
intelligently,  nor  exhibited  shrewder  perception  of  the  dignity 
of  the  berth  he  filled  in  his  manner  or  calling  to  the  men,  that 
was  as  good  as  saying  to  them,  '  I'm  still  your  shipmate,  lads  ; 
but  dont  forget  that  I'm  mister  also  ! ' 

Miss  Grant  and  I  fell  to  pacing  the  weather-deck,  speaking 
low,  and  taking  care  to  slew  round  for  our  forward  pace  whilst 
the  fellow  at  the  helm  was  still  a  little  way  off.  We  spoke  of 
the  disappearance  of  Broadwater.  She  did  not  doubt  with  me 
that  he  had  been  murdered,  and  that  the  whole  of  the  crew  were 
acquainted  with  the  deed.  I  said  to  her,  '  But  glance  at  them, 
Miss  Grant  j  see  how  nimbly  they  run  about :  hear  the  cheeri- 
ness  in  their  voices,  and  the  occasional  laugh  !  It  is  hard  to 
believe  they  can  be  conscious  that  a  second  dreadful  Berime  was 
committed  in  this  ship  in  the  dark  hours  of  the  morning.' 

'You  will  find  it  was  the  deed  of  one  man,'  she  answered ;  'the 
others  feel  themselves  guiltless,  and  are  happy  because  they  are 
free.  But  who  is  the  criminal  i  Is  it  Charles,  do  you  think  ? ' 

'  I  dare  not  think,'  I  exclaimed.  '  As  it  is,  he  must  regard 
us  as  witnesses  to  his  murder  of  the  mate.  His  dread  of  Broad- 
water  may  be  extended  to  us  for  the  same  reason.  I  am 
infinitely  bothered — infinitely  bothered,'  I  exclaimed,  with  W* 


ISO  MAROONED 

involuntary  clenching  of  my  fist  to  a  fit  of  exasperation  that 
came  to  me  with  the  thought  of  the  horrible  muddle  we  were 
in,  and  my  helplessness  and  my  inability  to  perceive  the  least 
gleam  of  light  upon  the  heavy  surrounding  gloom. 

She  looked  at  me  with  a  light  smile,  and  said  with  a  sort  of 
peremptoriness,  fascinating  for  its  spirit  and  kindness,  'If  / 
can  be  cool,  you  must  be  so.  Mr.  Musgrave,  I  really  do  not  feel 
the  least  bit  afraid ;  certainly  I  have  no  fear  for  our  lives. 
The  hearts  in  those  men  are  not  black ;  they  are  not  pirates  ; 
at  least  they  are  not  pirates  yet !  They  are  wretched  human 
creatures,  who  have  been  driven  to  this  by  ill-treatment,  and 
now  that  the  captain  is  gone  they  will  stay  their  hands. 
Indeed,  I  have  no  fear.  The  future,  to  be  sure,  is  a  gloomy 
problem,  but  have  not  we  courage  enough  between  us  to  wait 
until  it  is  solved  t'  She  continued  to  look  at  me,  preserving 
her  light  smile. 

'  We  should  change  places,'  said  I,  feeling  a  trifle  of  colour  in 
my  cheeks  ; '  you  have  twenty-fold  my  heart.    Yet  I  should  feel 
less  worried.  I  believe,  if  I  were  alone  here.    It  is  my  duty  to 
see  you  safely  to  Rio — I  embarked  for  no  other  purpose.' 
'  But  supposing  /  were  alone ! '  said  she. 

*  Ha ! '  I  exclaimed ;  '  and  yet  I  don't  know.  I  believe  your 
nature  would  top  the  whole  difficulty  as  a  sea-bird  a  surge  big 
enough  to  founder  a  line-of -battle  ship.  Indeed  the  mere  cir- 
cumstance of  your  being  alone  might  win  you  more  consider- 
ation from  the  sailors  than  they  would  show  you  with  a  male 
companion  to  look  after  you.' 

'  Well,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  said  she,  and  her  voice  still  maintained 
its  character  of  peremptoriness  that  rendered  it,  to  my  ear  at 
all  events,  not  a  little  engaging  by  the  quality  of  half-conscious 
coquetry  that  I  found  in  it,  '  bemoaning  our  position  will  not 
help  it.  I  am  certain  you  will  yet  discharge  the  obligation  you 
generously,  most  generously,  undertook ;  and  how  Alexander 
will  thank  you  when  he  hears  of  our  adventures,  and  of  your 
heavy  anxieties,  my  heart  tells  me.' 

She  laid  her  hand  upon  her  breast  as  she  spoke ;  the  Spanish 
blood  in  her  indeed  was  confessed  in  many  of  her  gestures. 
And  though  her  accent  was  entirely  English,  yet  perhaps  in  her 
choice  of  words  you  missed  the  ease  and  simplicity  you  would 
expect  in  a  girl  whose  blood  and  lifelong  surroundings  were 
purely  British.  'A  plague  on  Alexander  r  thought  L  It  had 
come,  somehow  or  other,  to  my  never  being  able  to  hear  her 
mention  his  name  without  a  feeling  in  me  that  she  was  a  bit 
maladroit  in  referring  to  it.  'A  plague  on  him ! '  I  repeated 
to  myself,  spite  of  the  glowing  glance  she  shot  at  me  through 
the  fringes  of  her  white  lids,  as  if  to  an  instant's  curiosity  as 
to  what  was  passing  in  my  mind. 

'Under  Heaven,  Miss  Grant,'  I  answered,  'I  hope  indeed  to 
be  able  to  discharge  my  obligation,  though  tis  a  word  that  I 
don't  like— indeed,  it  is  quite  the  other  way.  But,'  said  I, 


WE  ARE  SPOKEN  151 

a  touch  of  impatience,  '  this  is  no  time  for  ceremonies  of  speech. 
We  are  talking  of  Rio  and  Alexander ;  and  here,  confound  it ! 
are  we  heading  away  on  a  crow's  course  for  Cuba. 

'Why  do  the  men  want  to  go  to  Cuba  ? '  she  asked. 

'  I  may  find  out,'  I  answered  ;  '  at  present  I  have  not  the  least 
idea.  The  West  Indies,  to  be  sure,  suggest  piracy ;  but  that 
dream  is  gone.  If  the  cross-bones  and  skull  be  not  hauled 
down  and  stowed  away,  they  are  scarce  now  flying  half-mast 
high.  No !  yonder  livelies  will  not  put  this  ship  to  any 
felonious  use  !  I  am  to  give  them  notice  when  we  are  within  a 
day's  sail  of  the  island.  That  sounds  queer — they  don't  >vame  a 
•port.' 

'It  will  all  come  right,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  she  exclaimed. 

I  viewed  her  with  an  admiration  I  could  not  disguise.  It 
was  not  only  the  challenge  of  her  pale,  flashful,  resolved  beauty 
just  then ;  it  was  the  high  courage,  giving  her  faith  in  the 
future,  that  won  my  eyes  to  her  with  an  expression  in  them 
that  must  have  conveyed  more  than  the  message  I  intended ; 
for  her  own  gaze  drooped  to  it  on  a  sudden,  and  went  away 
seawards  with  the  merest  flutter  of  a  smile  upon  her  lip? 


CHAPTER  XX 

WE    ARE    8POKEK 

PRESENTLY  the  men  had  packed  studding-sails  to  the  royal 
yards  upon  the  brig.  The  increased  pressure  raised  a  little  yeasty 
hum  at  the  forefoot.  The  warm  blue  gushing  of  the  wind  had 
weight  enough  in  it  to  steady  the  canvas.  The  lower  studding-sail 
overhanging  the  side  by  many  feet  rounded  yearningly  forwards 
cloud-like  to  the  pressure  ;  the  foot  of  the  mainsail,  the  weather- 
clew  of  which  was  hauled  up,  lifted,  with  scarce  a  swing-in,  to 
the  light  heave  of  the  fabric  ;  aloft  'twas  all  luminous  stirlessness, 
one  sail  looking  to  float  upwards  to  another,  till  on  high  the  little 
royals  blended  with  the  dainty  tropical  blue  till  the  azure  seemed 
to  flow  through  the  whiteness  of  them,  as  the  pearly  chip  of  new 
moon  in  the  midday  heavens  will  seem  to  be  tinctured  with  the 
sapphire  along  which  it  slides.  But  I  took  notice  that  the  crew 
did  not  intend  to  wash  the  decks  down  ;  and  that  I  might  satisfy 
myself  on  a  head  or  two  concerning  the  ship's  discipline,  and 
what  was  expected  of  me,  I  called  to  Mole,  having  Miss  Grant 
still  at  my  side.  There  was  little  of  the  cut-throat  in  the  appear- 
ance of  the  seaman  as  he  approached  and  stood  before  us,  civil, 
but  with  a  determined  manner  running  through  his  respectful- 
ness. He  was  indeed  as  fine  a  specimen  of  an  English  sailor  as 
one  could  wish  to  see  ;  tall,  muscular,  well-shaped,  and  with  the 
grace  begotten  by  years  of  rolling  decks  in  every  posture  and 
mpvement  j  eyes  full  of  sensibility,  a  check  burnt  by  many 


162  MAROONED 

months  of  high  suns,  and  handsome  features  which  seemed  the 
manlier  for  the  shaggy  cast  his  thick,  plentiful  hair  gave  them. 
'  Mr.  Mole,'  said  I,  '  I  am  captain  by  the  wish  and  consent  of 
the  crew,  but  have  no  ambition  to  venture  a  step  further  than 
they  require  me  to  walk.  I  therefore  propose  to  give  no  orders 
until  I  have  ascertained  their  views.  They  will  work  the  ship,  of 
course,  brace  the  yards  about  to  the  wind,  and  make  and  shorten 
sail,  and  the  like.  And  what  more  1 ' 

*  Nothing  more,  sir,'  he  answered,  promptly.  So  I  might  have 
guessed  1    '  There  '11  be  no  money  to  take  up,  Mr.  Musgrave,' 
he  continued,  '  and  he's  a  good  dog  that  11  work  for  a  bare  bone.' 

*  There'd  be  money  enough  to  earn  though,'  said  I, '  should  you 
feel  disposed  to  turn  to  and  make  a  salvage  job  of  this  business. 
Here's  a  brig  without  a  commander,  with  her  hold  full  of  mixed 
commodities ' 

He  raised  his  hand  with  a  glance  forward.  'No,  sir.  All  hands 
is  agreed.  If  we  could  stick  the  blooming  hooker  up  forLunnon 
town  in  a  twenty-four  hours'  ratch,  we'd  sooner  see  her  chiveying 
her  hell-born  skipper  and  mate  that  way,'  pointing  down  with  a 
wild  romantic  gesture,  '  than  handle  a  brace  for  her  salvation.' 
He  took  a  steadier  grip  of  the  deck  with  his  feet,  so  to  speak, 
and  looked  at  me  as  much  as  to  say,  '  Hold  to  your  first  kind 
of  questions.' 

*  Then,'  said  I,  *  I  am  expected  to  do  nothing  but  navigate  the 
brig?' 

'To  Cuba  !  Yes,  sir,  that,  if  you  please,  along  with  looking 
after  her  in  dirty  weather,  for  we  know  from  Mr.  Gordon  that 
you're  sailor  enough  for  most  things  that  can  happen  at  sea.' 

It  would  have  been  idle  to  dispute  this  high  opinion ;  the  result 
no  doubt  of  poor  Gordon's  hope  that  I  might  take  the  mate's 
place,  and  of  his  wish  to  confirm,  by  his  ardent  representations 
of  me  as  a  seaman,  such  satisfaction  as  the  men  might  feel  had 
I  consented  to  Broadwater's  appointment  of  me.  '  The  crew 
will  find  me  as  dutiful  to  their  desires,  Mr.  Mole,'  said  I,  '  as 
they  are  faithful  to  the  promises  they  made  me.' 

'Mr.  Musgrave,'  he  exclaimed,  'I'll  be  plain  with  ye.  There  11 
be  no  call  for  you  to  take  any  notice  of  what  goes  on.  The  ship's 
stores  aren't  over  good,  ana  there's  no  reason  why  the  cook 
should  not  tarn  to  and  sarve  up  a  forecastle  mess  from  time  to 
time  out  of  the  cabin  provisions.  That  there  live  stock,'  he 
continued,  pointing  to  a  hencoop.  '  belongs  to  you  and  the  lady, 
I  l>elieve,  sir  ? '  I  said  '  yes.'  '  Well,  it  won't  be  touched  ;  but  all 
the  rest  we  shall  take  the  liberty  of  claiming  for  ourselves.' 

'Of  course,'  I  said,  'you  wiil  do  as  you  please.  But  what 
about  the  liquor  ? ' 

*  Ye  needn  t  feel  consarned  about  that,'  he  exclaimed,  under- 
standing me  ;  '  every  man's  allowance  ^1  be  increased,  and  why 
not  t    But  there  '11  be  no  drinking.    If  ever  you  should  observe 
one  of  the  men  half  so  slewed  as  Broadwater  used  to  be  day 
artor  day  and  night  arter  night,  the  crew  11  give  ye  full  consent 


WE  ARE  SPOKEN  1S3 

to  have  him  seized  up,  and  their  own  hands  11  do  the  rest.  No, 
no,  there  Tl  be  no  drinking.  The  look-out  ain't  cheerful  enough 
for  the  likes  tf  that  sort  of  jollification.  There's  one  thing, 
perhaps,'  he  continued,  changing  his  tone  from  the  high,  almost 
angry,  energy  in  which  he  had  been  addressing  me,  that  is 
proper  I  should  tell  'ee,  sir.  The  crew  don't  want  to  have  nothen 
to  say  to  any  ships  that  may  chance  to  pass.  They  desire  to 
keep  themselves  to  themselves/ 

A  thought  coming  into  my  head  on  his  saying  this,  I  looked 
from  Miss  Grant  to  him  ana  said,  'If  a  chance  offered  for  this 
lady  and  me  to  transship  ourselves,  you  would  not  object  1 ' 
.  He  answered  quickly  and  sternly,  *  Mr.  Musgrave,  there  must 
be  no  meddling  with  other  vessels.  Please  to  understand  that, 
sir.' 

I  gave  a  little  involuntary  stamp  of  impatience,  but  said 
nothing.  Miss  Grant's  hand  stole  to  my  arm  with  a  geiril« 
rebuking  pressure  of  the  fingers.  The  man  added,  softening 
his  manner, '  If  you  left  us,  who's  to  navigate  the  brig  ? ' 

'  The  ship  that  received  us  would  lend  you  a  mate. 

'Oh,  but  you  dorUt  understand,'  he  exclaimed,  with  a  sour 
lowering  of  his  face.  '  Well,  sir,  'tis  settled,  of  course— ^there  is 
to  be  no  conversing  with  anything  that  may  heave  in  sight.' 

'  I  have  told  you  I  will  do  what  you  ask.' 

Just  then  the  cook  came  up  to  us,  to  ask  if  we  were  ready  for 
breakfast ;  and  simple  as  the  thing  was,  yet  on  the  top  of  the 
shining  morning  and  the  quietude  of  the  men,  the  touch  of 
homeliness  in  the  question  put  a  sort  of  ease  into  my  mind  that 
was  as  useful  to  me  just  then  as  a  small  stroke  of  good  fortune. 
It  half  rose  to  my  lips  to  gratify  Mole  by  inviting  him  to  use  the 
cabin  for  his  meals,  and  had  I  been  alone  in  the  brig  I  should 
have  done  so  ;  but  the  thought  of  him  as  society  for  Miss  Grant 
checked  my  intention,  though  I  protest  he  would  have  furnished 
her  with  out  and  away  better  company  than  ever  Broadwater 
was,  whilst  it  was  not  to  be  questioned  that  he  had  much  more 
to  talk  about,  having  served  in  many  different  kinds  of  ships 
and  visited  many  lands ;  whereas  I  believe  Broadwater  had 
passed  most  of  his  early  life  in  the  coasting  trade,  and  never 
weathered  either  Cape  in  all  the  years  he  had  used  the  sea. 

The  cook  arrived  with  our  breakfast  in  due  course,  and  made 
some  show  of  setting  the  dishes  upon  the  table,  as  if  he  had 
taken  more  trouble  than  usual  in  the  cooking  of  the  meal,  and 
was  desirous  we  should  value  him  for  it.  We  were  in  the  cabin 
waiting  for  him  when  he  made  his  appearance,  and  after  prepar- 
ing the  table  he  asked  me  if  he  should  attend  upon  us.  I  thanked 
him  for  his  civility,  and  added  that  we  should  be  able  to  do 
without  him,  and  told  him  very  plainly  that  any  attention  he 
showed  us  now  would  not  be  forgotten  by  me  hereafter.  I  shall 
always  remember  this  man  for  the  peculiar  dingy  pallor  of  his 
face,  so  much  like  the  complexion  or  the  'duff 'he  cooked  for  the 
sailors  that  no  painter  could  have  copied  it  more  inimitably ; 


164  MAHOONED 

also  for  his  lame,  moist  eyeballs,  whose  protrusion  gave  him  a 
stupid,  staring  look,  whilst  at  the  same  time  the  sky-blue  pupils 
were  so  bleared  with  damp  and  the  cloudiness  of  congestion  as 
to  make  his  wide-open  gaze  a  sort  of  blind  hunt  in  the  direction 
of  what  he  looked  at.  Though  I  had  told  him  we  could  do 
without  him,  he  still  lingered,  as  though  the  novelty  of  being  in 
the  cabin  pleased  him.  I  thought  I  would  ask  him  a  question 
or  two. 

'Didn't  it  strike  you  as  odd,  cook,  that  Captain  Broad  water 
should  have  chosen  you  to  stand  watch  and  watch  with  him  ? ' 

'  Why,  yes,'  said  he,  in  his  slow,  wheezy  voice.  '  I  don't  know 
what  there  was  to  make  him  partial  to  me  in  that  way.  He  was 
no  more  beloved  by  me  than  he  was  by  the  others.  He  had  such 
a  choice  of  foul  words  as  never  I  heard  in  a  man's  mouth  afore. 
'Sides  a  trick  of  hazing  just  proper  to  break  the  heart  of  a  cart- 
horse. Perhaps  his  feelings  made  his  way  towards  me  through 
his  stomach.  He  was  much  in  love  with  that  end  of  him,  sir, 
and  yet  coarse  as  a  Fin  in  his  eatin'  too.  He  was  born  in  the 
latitood  o'  roast  pork.  Had  he  been  given  birth  to  higher  north 
he'd  ha'  asked  in  his  prayers  for  nothen  better  than  slush.' 

'He  must  have  destroyed  himself  very  cunningly  last  night, 
or  rather  this  morning,'  said  L  '  No  doubt  he  sneaked  over- 
board into  the  blackness  of  the  lee-channels,  and  thence 
dropped.'  I  glanced  at  him  carelessly  as  I  said  this. 

'  Can't  tell  ye  how  it  happened,  I'm  sure,'  he  answered.  *  I  was 
tarned  in  at  the  time,  as  you  know.  Hope  that  there  bacon's 
broiled  to  your  liking.  Miss  1 ' 

Miss  Grant  thanked  him  with  a  smile  and  a  bow. 

'  Were  you  ever  at  Cuba,  cook  ? '  said  I,  in  an  offhand  way. 

'  No,  sir,'  he  answered,  making  a  step  towards  the  companion- 
ladder,  as  though  he  considered  it  time  to  be  gone,  and  then 
stopping  to  answer  me. 

'  Savanna's  the  chief  port,'  I  continued.  _ '  There  should  be  no 
difficulty,  I  suppose,  in  meeting  with  a  ship  bound  straight  on 
for  Rio.  Were  both,'  said  I,  smiling  and  preserving  my 
careless  manner,  '  in  a  bit  of  a  hurry,  and  I  heartily  wish  that 
the  crew  had  selected  waters  nearer  the  South  American  sea- 
board than  the  Caribbean  Sea.' 

'We're  bound  to  Cuba  anyhow,'  said  he,  with  another  stride 
towards  the  steps. 

'  Do  you  know  what  part  of  Cuba  the  men  design  to  touch 
at ?'  I  asked,  but  as  I  said  this  I  felt  Miss  Grant's  hand  upon 
my  knee.  I  looked  at  her,  and  marked  a  lightning-like  lifting 
of  her  long  lashes  to  the  skylight,  where,  partly  through  the 
glass  and  partly  through  the  raised  sash,  I  caught  a  sight  of 
the  figure  of  Mole  standing  in  an  unmistakably  listening  pos- 
ture, though  you  would  have  said  his  attention  was  fixea  by 
something  that  was  happening  forward.  '  No  further  need  to 
detain  you,  cook,'  I  exclaimed,  loudly  and  cheerfully  ; '  if  you  caa 
persuade  the  crew— for  your  influence,  you  know,  as  "doctor" 


WE  ARE  SPOKEN  IBrf 

ought  to  be  considerable — to  let  me  navigate  the  brig  to  any 
point  nearer  to  Rio  than  Cuba,  you  •will  be  doing  not  me  but 
this  lady  a  prodigious  service.' 

The  figure  at  the  skylight  moved  away.  He  probably  guessed 
by  the  change  of  my  voice  that  I  knew  he  was  listening.  The 
cook  exclaimed, '  The  destination  of  this  here  wessel  is  a  matter 
as  consarns  all  hands.  It's  not  for  any  one  man  more  'n  another 
to  interfere.  Cuba's  been  settled  upon,  and  I  allow  that  the 
arrangement  had  best  be  left  alone.'  With  that  he  went  on  deck. 

*  I  think  you  are  a  little  indiscreet,'  said  Miss  Grant,  softly. 
'Perhaps  so,'  I  replied,  'but  the  fellow  with  his  pale  face  and 

projecting  eyes  had,  I  thought,  an  honest  look,  and  I  seemed 
to  find  a  suggestion  of  garrulity  lying  behind  his  loitering  here. 
But  I  am  mistaken.  I  must  be  cautious,  as  you  say  ;  still  it  is 
distracting  not  to  be  able  to  make  even  a  guess  at  the  intentions 
of  the  fellows.' 

'  You  must  expect  to  be  watched,'  she  continued.  *  We  shall 
have  to  be  exceedingly  cautious  in  conversing,  and,  Mr.  Mus- 
grave,  it  will  not  do  for  you  to  question  any  of  the  men.  You 
must  be  as  reserved  as  they  are,  attend  to  the  navigation  of  the 
ship  according  to  their  requirements,  satisfy  them  with  your, 
honesty  as  a  navigator  by  such  proofs  as  their  ignorance  will 
suffer  them  to  understand,  and  leave  the  rest  to  time  and  to 
chance.  It  must  be  so  ! '  she  cried,  still  softly,  yet  with  impetu- 
osity in  the  drawing  of  her  breath.  |  It  is  for  time  and  chance 
to  decide  all  things.  Let  one's  condition  be  that  of  a  princess, 
or  as  dark  and  as  full  of  care  as  ours  now,  it  is  the  same.' 

'  You  shall  control  me  as  you  desire,'  said  I  gently ;  '  you  have 
more  wit  than  I,  more  patience,  more  courage,  and  will  preserve 
me  from  doing  anything  that  I  may  repent  for  your  sake.  I 
feel  myself  to  a  certain  extent  responsible  for  the  dreadful 
position  in  which  we  are  placed.'  She  motioned  dissent  with 
her  hand. 

*  Well,'  I  continued, '  first  of  all,  I  ought  to  have  known  human 
nature  too  well  to  have  been  duped  by  a  man  like  Broad  water.' 

'  Oh,  Mr.  Musgrave,  we  do  not  know  human  nature  even  when 
we  are  white-haired/  she  cried,  '  and  you  are  so  young  yet  1 ' 

'That  is  so,'  said  I,  stealing  a  look  at  her  to  see  if  there  was 
any  correspondence  between  her  eyes  and  her  words.  '  But  I  am 
not  so  young  as  not  to  have  known  better  than  to  suffer  our- 
selves to  proceed  on  this  voyage,  when  perhaps,  by  insisting 
upon  it,  I  could  have  got  Broad  water  to  set  us  ashore  in  the 
English  Channel.  One  hope  I  have,  however,'  with  a  further 
lowering  of  my  voice  ;  '  it  may  not  have  occurred  to  the  men.  We 
have  ships  of  war  in  the  West  Indian  waters,  and  it  is  impossible 
to  conjecture  what  might  come  of  some  smart  sloop  heaving  us 
into  view,  and  desiring  a  closer  acquaintance  from  symptoms 
which  the  astute  naval  eye  can  often  discern  in  what  to  another 
is  mere  timber,  canvas,  and  an  ugly  head  or  two  peeping  over, 
the  rail' 


158  MAROONED 

But  the  idea  of  a  cruiser  overhauling  us  was  a  vague  hope  at 
best.  I  might  think  to  lighten  Miss  Grant's  anxiety,  and  steal 
a  little  ease  for  myself  too,  out  of  the  fancies  that  came  into  my 
head  by  talking  of  such  things.  But  as  the  nations  were  then 
at  peace,  as  piracy  was  pretty  nearly  extinct,  and  as  there  was 
nothing  to  suggest  the  slaver  in  the  aspect  of  the  Iron  Croivn, 
what  excuse  should  a  naval  officer  find  in  the  mere  cut  of  canvas, 
and  trim  of  yards,  and  run  of  rail,  whether  ornamented  or  not 
with  an  ugly  head  or  two,  to  send  a  boat  aboard  for  a  look  at 
the  brig's  papers  ?  The  island  of  Cuba  bore  above  two  thousand 
miles  distant  from  us.  How  many  days'  sailing  that  might 
signify  no  man  would  have  cared  to  conjecture.  We  might 
indeed  look  for  the  trades  anon,  and  blow  along  briskly  to  the 
quartering  gale,  without  need  for  days  at  a  stretch  perhaps  to 
check  a  brace  or  stand  by  a  halliard.  But  the  sun  eats  out  the 
heart  of  the  steady  blowing  as  the  Antilles  are  approached,  and 
the  sweeping  wind  that  has  been  whitening  the  curl  of  the  dark 
blue  chasing  billows,  and  putting  a  windy  sparkle  into  the 
glitter  of  the  foaming  huddle  of  gem-crested  waters  flashing 
from  under  the  counter  in  a  long  race  towards  the  leaping 
sea-line,  dies  out  into  parched  catspaws,  brief  bursts  of  fiery 
squall,  and  long  intervals  of  glassy,  rotting  calm,  with  nothing 
to  tarnish  the  surface  of  the  blinding  mirror  but  the  jump  of 
the  skipjack,  or  the  thin  blue  line  that  denotes  the  wake  of 
the  wet  black  fin  of  the  shark. 

But  at  sea  what  happens  for  the  day  must  suffice  for  it,  and 
the  breeze  had  now  settled  into  so  fixed  and  pleasant  a  hum- 
ming, that  I  was  scarce  surprised  when  returning  on  deck  after 
breakfast  to  find  a  hint  in  the  blue  shadowiness  in  the  north- 
east, with  here  and  there  a  head  of  cloud  lifting  out  of  it,  of  the 
presence  or  the  approach  of  the  regular  trade- wind.  All  hands 
were  on  deck  forward  saving  Mole,  who  was  aft,  and  Charles  at 
the  wheeL  They  were  lying  sprawling,  sitting  about,  smoking 
to  a  man,  yarning,  with  often  a  loud  laugh  breaking  from  one 
or  another  of  them.  Indeed,  it  was  more  like  a  dog-watch  scene 
on  a  fine  summer's  night  than  such  a  picture  as  one  would  look 
for  in  the  work-up,  hard-going  hours  of  the  forenoon  watch. 
Over  the  side  the  seas  ran  short,  and  broke  friskily.  Again 
and  again,  from  either  bow,  a  score  of  flying-fish  would  dart 
from  the  arch  of  wave  there  as  though  some  young  sea-god 
leaning  against  the  shearing  forefoot  was  showering  barbs  of 
mother-of-pearl  up  through  the  blue  translucency  into  the 
sunny  air. 

It  was  my  watch  on  dock,  and  Mole  on  my  arrival  was  going 
forward,  when  I  stopped  him. 

'Is  there  a  man  aboard  this  vessel,'  said  I,  'who  has  any 
knowledge  of  navigation  ?  ' 

'Not  going  to  such  lengths,'  he  answered,  'as  taking  the 
height  of  tlio  sun  and  discovering  our  situation  by  celestial 
observations.  But  I  don't  doubt,  if  I  was  put  to  it}  that  I  should 


WE  ARE  SPOKEN  157 

be  able  to  find  my  way  about  with  the  log-line,  supposing  my, 
departure's  correct.' 

Then,'  said  I,  'I  may  judge,  even  from  what  you  say,  that  you 
are  able  to  follow  my  navigation,  and  to  form  an  opinion  of  its 
correctness  by  looking  at  the  course  I  mark  down  on  the  chart.' 

'Yes,  sir,  I  should  be  able  to  do  that.' 

*  I  am  glad  to  hear  it.  I  desire  that  my  goodwill  should  be 
appreciated.  The  men  would  not  doubt  my  sincerity  or  my 
capacity  with  you  at  hand  to  tell  them  that  you  have  checked 
my  reckonings,  and  that  I  am  heading  true  to  their  wishes.' 

'  We're  all  quite  satisfied,  sir,'  he  responded,  with  a  falcon 
glance  at  me  under  the  careless  droop  of  his  lids.  'We  have 
-no  fear  of  your  deceiving  of  us ; '  and  with  a  half-flourish  of  his 
hand  to  his  head  he  went  towards  the  forecastle,  leaving  me 
under  the  impression  that  I  had  said  too  much,  and  that  it  would 
be  as  well  for  me  in  future  to  rehearse  whatever  I  might  wish 
to  say  to  the  men  with  Miss  Grant  before  expressing  myself. 

As  I  walked  the  deck  alone,  I  would  catch  now  and  again  an 
odd,  inquiring  sort  of  look  from  Charles,  who  grasped  the  wheel. 
It  was  almost  wistful  in  its  way,  and  with  the  idea  of  giving 
him  a  chance  to  interpret  it,  I  came  presently  to  a  stand  at  the 
quarter,  sending  a  light  glance  astern,  and  then  made  a  stride 
to  the  binnacle,  from  which  I  peered  to  the  canvas  aloft,  as 
though  to  remark  with  what  steadiness  the  craft  swung  through 
it  under  the  dead  weather  drag  of  the  great  studding-sail  My 
aversion  from  the  fellow  was  not  without  a  weak  element  of  pity 
too  for  him.  I  seemed  to  remember  now,  oddly  enough,  as  I 
held  him  within  the  sphere  of  my  sight  without  regarding  him, 
the  kind  of  light  that  had  come  into  his  face  like  a  smile  when, 
as  he  tugged  at  his  oar  in  the  boat  that  carried  us  aboard  in 
the  Downs,  he  had  let  his  eyes  rest  on  Miss  Grant,  before  send- 
ing them  on  to  old  Broadwater  who  sat  abaft  her. 

Sir,'  he  suddenly  exclaimed.  I  turned  with  an  air  of  surprise 
at  being  accosted  by  him.  '  It's  known  to  you  and  the  lady,  sir. 
that  I  killed  the  mate.  He  drove  me  wild  in  the  dark,  as  I  stood 
here,  with  more  outrageous  language  than  the  captain  himself 
could  use.  He  rose  the  devil  in  me,  and  I  drew  my  knife — 
though  the  moment  after  I  could  have  stabbed  myself  for  doing 
of  it.  He  dragged  over  a  spoke  with  a  mechanical  twist ;  his 
olive-coloured  complexion  had  perished  into  a  sickly,  sallow 
green  which  his  dark  eyes,  gleaming  with  the  contending  passions 
in  him,  so  accentuated  that  the  memory  of  his  visage  was  for 
long  one  of  the  ugliest  phantoms  that  troubled  my  slumbers.  I 
drew  a  pace  away  when  he  spoke  of  killing  the  mate  :  he  con- 
tinued talking  hurriedly,  as  though  he  feared  I  should  leave  him 
before  he  had  had  his  say.  '  You  and  the  lady,  sir,  thinks  of  me 
as  a  bloody  murderer,  and  so  I  am — so  I  am  1  But  it  begun  and 
ended  in  what  you  know  and  saw.  So  help  me  all  the  good 
angels  I  was  taught  to  pray  to  when  I  was  a  child,  and  so  nelp 
me  the  blessed  "Virgin  herself  I—he  let  go  the  wheel  with  one  of 


158  MAROONED 

Ms  little  hands  to  make  the  sign  of  the  cross  upon  his  breast 
— '  whatsoever  may  have  been  the  cause  of  the  capt'n's  disap- 
pearance, I  am  innocent  of  it.  Do  you  believe  me,  sir  ?' 

I  looked  at  him  a  moment  and  said,  '  I  do.  But  do  you  mean 
to  suggest  that  he  met  his  end  by  foul  play  ? ' 

He  made  a  passionate  gesture  and  cried,  '  I  know  nothing 
about  it,  sir.  I  want  you  to  believe  that,  and  I  want  the  lady 
to  believe  it  more  'n  you.  She  had  pity  for  me  when  I — when 
I — '  He  paused  with  a  gasp  and  a  swift  pointing  towards  the 
foremast  with  a  trembling  hand. 
i  She  came  on  deck  at  that  moment. 

4 1  am  glad  to  learn  what  you  have  told  me,'  said  I,  and  I 
added  coldly,  for  aversion  was  strong  in  me  again,  and  besides, 
his  very  words  were  as  good  as  owning  that  the  captain  had 
been  murdered,  though  not  by  him,  '  No  doubt  the  unhappy  man 
fell  crazy  with  drink  and  temper,  and  through  the  loss  of  the 
boat,  along  with  his  conscience  over  the  drowning  of  the  cabin- 
boy,  and  quietly  sneaked  overboard  ; '  and  so  saying  I  walked 
over  to  Miss  Grant. 

I  called  to  some  men  to  spread  the  little  scrap  of  awning  the 
brig  carried,  and  three  or  four  of  them  came  instantly  tumbling 
aft  as  willingly  as  one  could  wish.  I  then  placed  a  chair  for 
Miss  Grant  to  windward,  where  I  could  sometimes  halt  in  my 
walk  to  have  a  chat  with  her,  for  now  that  I  had  charge  of  the 
deck,  her  accompanying  me  in  my  pacings  would  scarcely  look 
ship-shape  in  the  eyes  of  the  seamen.  But  I  made  no  reference 
to  my  conversation  with  the  half-blood,  beyond  merely  telling 
her  in  &  half -whisper  that  the  fellow  had,  in  an  odd  way,  pro- 
tested himself  as  innocent  of  whatever  the  cause  might  have 
been  of  Broadwater's  disappearance  ;  whence  I  thought  it  was 
certainly  to  be  gathered  that  the  old  man  had  been  made  away 
with.  However,  it  was  not  a  little  comforting,  I  can  tell  you, 
to  feel  that  this  Charles,  whom  I  held  in  secret  dread,  was  equal 
to  feeling  grateful  to 'Miss  Grant  for  the  concern  and  indigna- 
tion his  punishment  at  the  foremast  had  excited  in  her.  It  was 
gratifying  to  me,  moreover,  to  know  that  he  had  conscience 
enough  left  in  him  to  shrink  from  suspicion  of  another  dark 
deed.  Indeed  my  talk  with  the  fellow,  followed  on  by  the 
lively  willingness  of  the  men  who  responded  to  my  order  to  lay 
aft  and  spread  the  awning,  would  have  put,  I  believe,  some- 
thing of  lightness  into  my  tread  of  the  quarter-deck,  specially 
with  the  radiant  scene  of  heaven  and  ocean  to  turn  from  to 
Miss  Aurelia's  dark  eyes,  which  often  followed  me  as  I  walked, 
but  for  the  dull  oppressive  wonder  as  to  what  project  the  crew 
had  in  mind  in  making  me  head  for  Cuba,  a  thing  that  gnawed 
in  the  secret  recesses  of  my  mind  like  some  sulky  throbbing 
ache  of  a  nerve. 

Before  my  watch  was  out,  however,  there  happened  an  inci- 
dent which  gave  me  to  know  very  plainly  that  the  sailors' 
resolution  was  fixed  in  one  direction,  at  all  events.  The  breeze 


WE  ARE  SPOKEN  159 

had  freshened — it  was  a  little  before  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning 
— clouds  rounded  and  of  silken  texture,  like  growing  puffs  of 
powder-smoke  from  great  ordnance  fired  below  the  horizon, 
were  sailing  up  into  the  blue  hollow  which  the  sunshine  so 
filled  that  it  was  all  azure  dazzle  over  our  mastheads ;  the  brig 
was  sliding  along  at  some  five  knots,  cradling  her  form  from  one 
dark  blue  brow  to  another,  with  the  whipped  waters  merrily 
sparkling  into  billows  and  melting  into  cream  all  along  her  as 
she  ran.  Suddenly  a  man,  who  was  standing  on  the  forecastle- 
head,  bawled  out, '  Sail  ho  ! '  to  which  cry  I  noticed  that  the  others, 
who  lounged  or  lay  sprawling  about  the  deck  near  the  galley, 
immediately  started  to  their  feet  and  ran  to  the  rail  to  look. 
""  '  Where  away  1 '  I  sang  out. 

'  Broad  on  the  weather-bow,'  came  back  the  answer. 

I  looked,  and  at  once  descried  a  sail  leaning  like  a  white  shaft 
in  the  quarter  the  man  had  indicated,  and,  as  I  might  judge  by 
the  heel  of  her,  by  which  one  saw  that  she  must  be  hugging  the 
wind,  heading  directly  for  us.  I  went  to  the  companion  for  the 
glass,  and  bringing  the  tubes  to  bear,  made  the  stranger  out  to 
be  a  small  brigantine.  The  hands  forward  over  the  rail  watched 
her  steadfastly.  I  waited  and  had  another  look  at  her,  and 
found  her  growing  rapidly.  Indeed,  that  was  to  be  expected, 
for  our  united  pace  would  probably  be  closing  us  at  the  rate  of 
some  ten  or  twelve  knots  in  the  hour.  I  hailed  the  forecastle, 
and  desired  that  Mr.  Mole  should  be  roused  up  and  sent  aft 
to  me.  He  sprang  through  the  hatch  within  a  minute  after  he 
had  been  called,  blinking  with  sleep  and  the  darkness  in  his 
eyes  against  the  splendour  on  deck,  but  laying  aft  nevertheless 
as  briskly  as  if  he  had  the  scent  of  danger  in  his  nostrils. 

'  What  s  the  matter  now,  sir  ? '  he  cried  out,  as  he  approached. 

'I  simply  want  to  be  advised,'  said  I,  and  pointing  to  the 
little  brigantine  that  was  coming  along  with  her  wash-streak 
down  in  the  smother,  and  the  weather-leeches  of  her  topsail  and 
topgallant-sail  and  royal  shivering  like  the  fly  of  a  flag  in  a 
breeze  to  the  grip  of  the  helmsman's  luff,  I  said,  '  You  see  that 
fellow  out  there  ? ' 

He  shaded  his  eyes  and  answered,  '  Plain  enough,  sir.' 

'  Take  that  glass,'  I  exclaimed,  '  and  look  at  her,  and  tell  me 
what  you  observe.' 

He  worked  away  with  the  telescope,  and  then  suddenly 
exclaimed,  "Taint  English  colours,  is  it?  No,  it's  Norwegian, — 
Jack  down — flying  half-masted.' 

1  Exactly,'  said  I :  'it  is  a  distress-signal,  and  she  wants  to 
speak  us.  Now,  I  don't  mean  to  accept  any  responsibility  in  a 
business  of  this  kind.  There  may  be  people  yonder  perishing 
from  some  want  which  it  is  in  our  power  to  supply ' 

'Can't  help  it  if  there  are,  sir,'  he  cried,  vehemently.  'We're 
bound  to  shove  on ;  there's  nothen  that  must  stop  us  1 '  and  a 
dark  look  came  into  his  face,  as  though  he  supposed  I  was  going 
to  argue,  and  was  angry  by  anticipation. 


ICO  MAROONED 

*  Be  it  so,'  I  exclaimed.  '  We'll  keep  straight  on,  as  you  say.1 
He  sent  a  look  full  of  significance  at  the  man  who  had  relieved 
Charles  at  the  wheel,  and  then  went  forward  and  leant  upon 
the  rail  alongside  the  others,  staring  his  hardest,  as  they  were, 
at  the  approaching  vessel. 

What  they  had  suspected  in  her  appearance  I  don't  know,  but 
I  gathered  ne  had  told  them  of  the  distress-signal  and  or  the 
nationality  of  it — scarce  yet  visible  to  the  naked  eye — by  the 
lapsing  of  most  of  them  from  their  intent,  strained,  eager  posture 
into  a  half-lounging,  careless  attitude.  I  waited  a  little,  and 
then  viewing  her  again  through  the  glass,  I  was  not  a  little 
surprised  to  remark  that  she  appeared  to  be  full  of  people.  I 
examined  her  carefully,  and  was  sure  I  could  not  be  mistaken. 
If  the  swarm  of  glimmering  dots  along  the  whole  length  of 
her  rail  were  not  human  faces,  it  would  puzzle  a  man  to  guess 
what  else  they  could  be.  Presently  the  men  noticed  this  too, 
for  I  saw  some  of  them  give  their  breeches  an  uneasy  hitch  as 
they  brought  their  eyes  away  from  her  to  our  own  canvas  with 
sharp  starings  aft,  as  though  they  feared  I  might  play  them 
some  ugly  tnck  if  I  were  not  closely  watched.  The  size  of  the 
brigantine  scarcely  exceeded  a  hundred  and  fifty  tons,  and  I 
never  remember  seeing  a  prettier  model.  She  had  a  tnie 
piratical  sheer  forwards,  a  run  of  bow  into  a  knife-like  cut- 
water, sheathing  green  with  usage,  that  flickered  with  a  sort  of 
emerald  sheen  to  the  light  of  the  snow  that  boiled  about  her 
forefoot  as  she  rose  to  the  fine-weather  surge.  The  swells  of  her 
well-cut  canvas  leaned  to  us  sunwards  with  milk-white  softness 
in  the  shine  of  them;  nothing  afloat  could  look  more  saucy, 
taut,  and  seaworthy,  and  one  almost  suspected  some  sinister 
device  in  the  dumb  appeal  of  the  speck  of  crimson  bunting 
with  its  blue  cross,  white  margined,  and  inverted  Jack,  only 
that  the  crowd  of  heads,  now  distinctly  visible,  made  such  a 
puzzlement  of  the  sight  as  effectually  checked  speculation.  I 
watched  her  intently  through  the  glass,  and  noticed  much 
motioning  of  arms  and  brandishing  of  caps  and  other  headgear 
amongst  her  people.  It  needed  no  specially  clear  eye  for  human 
distress  to  interpret  those  gesticulations  into  an  earnest  entreaty 
to  us  to  boom-end  our  studding-sails  and  bring  the  brig  to  the 
wind.  I  stood  at  the  rail  watching  her,  and  Miss  Grant  came 
to  my  side. 

'  There  are  women  aboard,  and  children  too,'  I  cried  ;  'at  least 
a  hundred  people,  I  should  say.  They  will  think  us  demons  for 
not  attending  to  their  signal.' 

'  What  do  you  imagine  they  need  ? '  she  inquired. 

1  They  may  have  run  short  of  provisions,  or  worse  still,  of 
water,'  I  answered,  steadfastly  examining  the  length  of  ner 
black  sides  for  any  bright  spout  from  the  scuppers  that  might 
tell  me  her  pumps  were  going. 

The  men  along  the  line  of  bulwarks  watched  her  with  faces  aa 
hard  as  figure-heads,  with  here  and  there  a  jaw  moving  upon 


WE  ARE  SPOKEN  161 

the  quid  that  stood  high  in  the  cheek-bone,  whilst  at  intervals  a 
fellow  would  drop  from  his  akimbo  arms  upon  the  rail  to  light 
his  pipe  at  the  galley  fire,  returning  promptly,  however,  and 
resuming  his  place,  where  he  would  stand  quietly  with  a  wooden- 
headed  look,  but  nevertheless  with  sooty  pipe  in  mouth,  blowing 
out  clouds  that  told  of  some  inward  perturbation.  On  a  sudden 
the  brigantine  put  her  helm  up,  slackened  away  her  sheets  fore 
and  aft  along  with  the  lee-braces,  and  headed  direct  for  us. 
Her  manoeuvre  startled  me.  for  I  thought  she  meant  to  run  us 
aboard.  The  clipper  hull  of  her,  now  that  she  was  making  a  free 
wind  of  it,  swept  like  the  shadow  of  a  cloud  over  the  water. 
JShe  piled  the  foam  to  her  hawse-pipes,  and  a  yeasty  hillock 
went  along  with  her  on  either  quarter,  with  the  flash  past  it  of 
her  wake,  whose  giddy  dazzle  would  have  made  a  near  eye  reel 
again.  Mole  sprang  aft  to  the  quarter-deck  in  a  few  bounds. 

'  What's  she  up  to,  Mr.  Musgrave  ? '  he  shouted.  '  Does  she 
mean  to  board  us,  think  ye  ? ' 

1  No,  no ;  to  speak  us,  man — to  speak  us,'  I  answered,  for  already 
her  intention  was  made  manifest  to  me  by  a  subtle  shifting  of 
her  helm,  that  would  enable  her  presently  to  range  within 
speaking  distance  of  us,  heading  as  we  were.  In  another  ten 
minutes  she  was  within  a  biscuit-toss,  almost  directly  abreast  to 
windward,  but  they  had  to  let  go  tneir  royal  and  topgallant- 
halliards  and  scandalize  their  mainsail,  as  it  is  termed,  to  keep 
their  position ;  for  though  the  brig  was  under  every  stitch  of 
canvas  that  would  draw,  with  studding-sails  swelling  cloud-like 
one  on  top  of  another  far  beyond  her  weather-side,  the  clipper 
to  windward  with  all  her  canvas  abroad  would  have  forged  ahead 
like  a  steamer,  and  been  out  of  hail  in  five  minutes.  There  were 
twenty  or  thirty  women  amongst  the  crowd,  some  of  them  with 
babies  in  their  arms,  and  forty  or  fifty  men,  and  at  least  a  score 
of  children.  The  vessel,  being  small  and  somewhat  deep  in  the 
water,  showed  her  decks  to  us  with  every  floating  slide  to  lee- 
ward. The  picture,  for  strangeness,  wildness,  and  I  may  add  for 
beauty,  was  in  its  way  incomparable.  The  flash  of  the  low 
black  hull  through  the  milk-white  boiling  along  her  bends,  the 
ivory  gleam  of  her  canvas  melting  into  soft  shadowing  beyond 
the  Central  curves  of  the  cloths,  the  crowd  upon  her  decks  so 
variously  and  oddly  apparelled  that  nothing  short  of  the  paint- 
brush would  put  the  scene  before  you — red  and  green  handker-' 
chiefs  round  the  head,  caps  like  inverted  flower-pots  falling  with 
a  tassel  to  the  shoulders,  coats  of  frieze  with  great  metal  buttons, 
yellow  half -boots,  red  petticoats,  the  gleam  of  gold  or  silver  ear- 
rings— such  a  huddle  of  bright  colours  defies  the  pen ;  one 
thought  of  an  opera  troupe,  with  its  choruses  and  orchestra  to 
boot,  as  having  taken  ship  lor  a  pleasure  cruise,  and  fallen  into 
some  dreadful  condition  of  incommunicable  distress.  The  Nor- 
wegian flag,  as  I  have  said,  flew  Jack  down  half-masted  from 
the  main-topmast-head ;  but  though  she  might  have  been  a  Nor- 
wegian ship,  with  a  Norwegian  crew  in  her,  I  cannot  persuado 

M 


162  MAROONED 

myself  that  the  women,  the  children,  and  most  of  the  men  were  of 
that  nation.  Yet  it  was  impossible  to  understand  a  word  of  what 
they  said.  Perhaps  they  would  have  been  as  unintelligible  had 
they  yelled  in  English,  for  every  throat  in  the  craft  was  strained 
at  the  same  moment,  and  the  wind  brought  the  hubbub  along  to 
fall  in  a  blind  dead  way  upon  the  ear  like  a  fog  upon  the  eye. 

A  man,  presumably  the  skipper,  an  old  patriarchal-looking 
fellow,  with  a  long  white  goat-like  beard,  and  a  white  fur  cap  as 
it  seemed  coming  close  down  to  his  shaggy  eyebrows,  got  into  the 
main-rigging,  with  a  speaking-trumpet  in  one  hand,  through 
which  he  roared  a  sentence  that  was  as  Hebrew,  afterwards 
pointing  with  his  trumpet  to  his  flag.  I  said  to  Mole, '  Shall  we 
hail  them?' 

He  answered  with  a  stamp  of  his  foot,  '  No,  by ?  not  if 

they  was  on  fire.  What  do  the  dogs  mean  by  sticking  their  craft 
alongside  of  us  ? ' 

Besides  continuously  shouting,  the  queer  kaleidoscopic  crowd 
convulsed  themselves  with  every  imaginable  kind  of  gesture. 
Some  pointed  into  their  wide-open  mouths ;  others  clasped  their 
hands  upon  their  stomachs,  with  grimaces  inimitably  expressive 
of  suffering  :  many  motioned  as  if  in  the  act  of  drinking  ;  one 
man  held  a  bottle  aloft  upside  down,  tapping  it  with  his  finger, 
and  shaking  his  head  most  dolefully.  There  was  indeed  no  need 
for  them  to  tell  in  words  what  was  the  matter  with  them. 

I  cried,  *  Mr.  Mole,  you  see  how  it  is ;  those  people  want 
water — water  I '  I  repeated,  emphasizing  the  words,  for  if  there's 
a  human  need  that  thrills  to  the  heart  of  the  sailor  on  the  high 
seas,  it  is  that.  *  It  is  in  our  power  to  relieve  them  to  a  small 
extent  at  least.  Look  at  those  children  !  No  possible  harm  can 
come,  man,  from  our  allowing  them  to  send  a  boat  to  us.' 

He  turned  upon  me  savagely.  '  Mr.  Musgrave,'  he  exclaimed, 
in  a  voice  like  a  snarl,  so  hard  did  his  passion  make  it  for  him 
to  speak,  '  if  ye  have  an  atom  of  consarn  in  your  safety — in  the 
lady  s  safety — -you'll  hold  your  jaw.' 

I  took  Miss  Grant's  hand,  and  walked  with  her  right  aft,  and 
seated  myself  by  her  side  on  the  grating. 

'  You  must  let  them  have  their  way,'  she  exclaimed ; '  they  are 
devils,  not  men.' 

I  was  too  sick  at  heart,  too  enraged  by  the  man's  insolence, 
too  shocked  by  the  picture  of  the  gaping  crowd  to  windward,  to 
be  able  to  answer  her. 

Presently  there  fell  a  silence  upon  the  little  brigantine,  and 
you  heard  nothing  but  the  seething  of  the  water  past  her  as  her 
sharp  stem  sheared  through  it  with  a  hissing  as  of  red-hot  iron. 
The  hush  was  broken  by  the  old  white-bearded  man  bellowing 
again  to  us  through  his  speaking-trumpet.  Mole,  with  folded 
arms,  stood  looking  on  without  a  stir  in  the  scowl  of  his  face. 
Not  a  voice  disturbed  the  stillness  forward,  where  the  men  hang- 
ing over  the  rail  were  gazing  with  an  air  of  mere  idle  curiosity. 
Twice  the  old  man  hailed  us ;  he  then  got  out  of  the  rigging, 


WE  ARE  SPOKEN  163 

and  on  reaching  the  deck  flung  his  trumpet  down  with  a  furious 
gesture,  sank  upon  his  knees,  and  lifting  up  his  hands  to  God, 
seemed  to  invoke  a  curse  upon  us;  varying  his  dreadful  tragic 
posture  of  denunciation  by  pointing  at  our  brig  with  his  eyes 
upturned.  At  the  sight  ^  of  this  the  rest  of  the  people  fell  to 
menacing  us  with  brandished  fists,  shouting  and  yelling  at  us 
till  their  voices  blended  into  one  long  howl  of  execration.  Yet 
had  our  crew  been  statues  they  could  not  have  surveyed  the 
dreadful  scene  more  impassively.  Presently  the  old  man  rose 
from  his  knees,  and  motioned  to  the  fellow  at  the  wheel  to  put 
it  over  ;  the  topgallant  and  royal  yards  were  hoisted  afresh,  the 
**>eak-halliards  manned,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  swift  and 
beautiful  little  vessel  was  hauling  away  from  us,  buzzing  round 
to  the  brilliant  breeze  with  a  wake  following  her  white  as  the 
shining  of  the  sun  on  the  polished  surface  of  a  scythe. 

I  thought  by  her  ranging  to  starboard  that  she  meant  to  round 
into  the  wind,  and  so  get  her  port  tacks  aboard  for  the  ratch  that 
she  was  upon  when  first  sighted.  Instead,  when  she  had  stood 
away  far  enough  to  come  round  to  the  wind  under  her  starboard 
helm  without  chance  of  striking  us,  over  went  her  wheel ;  she 
spun  on  her  heel  like  some  saucy,  frisky  woman  in  a  waltz,  and 
flattening  in  and  bracing  up  fore  and  aft,  sweep  !  she  came  for  us 
again,  passing  close  under  our  quarter,  from  no  other  motive  that 
I  could  see  than  to  furnish  her  people  with  another  opportunity 
of  uniting  their  voices  in  a  long,  raging  and  shrieking  curse  upon 
us.  Then  like  an  arrow  she  was  away  astern  crossing  our  wake  ; 
but  whilst  it  was  possible  for  the  naked  eye  to  hold  her,  one  saw, 
as  it  were,  the  throbbing  of  the  crowd  along  her  as  they  shook 
their  maledictions  at  us  with  flourished  arms  and  fists. 

When  she  had  fairly  settled  away  into  toy-like  dimensions, 
Mole,  who  had  been  watching  her  from  his  position  near  the 
main-rigging,  came  up  to  me,  and  said  with  the  civil  air  of  his 
former  behaviour,  '  Sorry  to  have  lost  my  temper,  sir ;  but  you 
know  that  all  hands  is  resolved  not  to  speak  anything,  from  a 
scow  to  a  line-of -battle  ship.  That's  our  resolution,  and  it  'ud 
make  things  easier  if  you  was  to  be  so  good  as  to  keep  as  clear 
an  eye  upon  it  as  you're  fixing  upon  the  course  to  Cuba.' 

Miss  Grant  said  quickly,  as  though,  fearing  an  indiscretion 
of  temper  in  me,  she  wished  to  interfere  between  myself  and 
the  man,  'Hunger  and  thirst  are  dreadful  things,  Mr.  Mole. 
Those  people  made  their  necessities  very  plain  to  us.  It  was 
the  sight  of  the  women  and  children  that  moved  Mr.  Musgrave.' 

'That's  right  enough,  Miss,' he  answered  ;  'but  who's  to  know 
what  ailed  them  ?  Supposing  it  to  have  been  thirst,  what 
amount  of  fresh  water  calculated  to  be  of  any  use  to  such  a 
army  of  folks  have  we  got  to  spare  out  of  our  stock  1  There's 
all  the  way  to  Cuba  before  us,  with  the  sun  pretty  nigh  over- 
head every  day,  and  we've  got  a  right  to  think  of  ourselves  first, 
I  allow.  Sides,'  he  continued,  putting  the  sharp  of  his  hand  to 
his  forehead  to  gaze  at  the  now  distant  sail,  and  frowning  to 

M   2 


164  MAROONED 

the  brassy  glare  that  came  in  folds  froin  the  running  waters 
off  each  head  of  sea,  *  who's  going  to  'leviate  people  there's  no 
onderstanding  ?  Human  they  was,  I  dessay ;  but  the  likes  of 
such  a  lump  on  a  little  vessel's  deck,  swearing,  motioning, 
patting  their  guts,  making  pretend  to  drink,  and  then  appa- 
riently  falling  down  and  cussing  of  us,  ain't  altogether  the  sort 
of  stroke  you  d  look  for  in  natural  things,  'specially  when  the 
whole  biling  is  rigged  up  as  if  a  body  of  organ-grinders  had 
turned  pirates — stole  some  blooming  Dutchman's  vessel,  and 
then  missed  their  road.' 

He  talked  as  if  he  wished  me  to  find  something^  humorous  in 
his  fancies.  Bitterly  indignant  and  resentful  as  I  secretly  felt, 
I  was  not  such  a  fool  as  to  despise  an  attitude  of  conciliation 
in  the  one  man  in  whom  I  had  now  had  time  to  observe  the 
others  had  confidence,  who  indeed  headed,  and  no  doubt  in- 
fluenced, the  crew ;  so^  I  returned  him  a  few  civil,  common- 
place words,  after  which  he  went  forward,  where  he  stood 
talking  awhile. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

A  FESTIVE  DOGKWATCH 

AT  sea  so  much  which  is  strange  happens,  that  no  man  who 
has  knowledge  of  the  life  will  trouble  himself  to  hunt  about  for 
solutions.  I  remember  a  sailor  once  telling  me,  that  his  ship 
being  blown  to  the  westwards  off  the  Chilian  coast,  deep  in  the 
heart  of  the  Pacific  waters,  they  fell  in  with  a  Chinese  junk, 
with  three  men  and  a  couple  of  women  on  board.  The  wonder 
of  this  junk  lay  not  in  her  sides  gray  with  barnacles  and  green 
with  weeds,  nor  in  the  queer,  weather-befouled  aspect  of  her  faded 
Asiatic  sails,  nor  in  the  ragged  look  of  the  blue-gowned,  betailed, 
mustard-coloured  creatures  that  were  on  deck  ;  but  in  her  being 
where  she  was.  How  came  she  in  the  South  Pacific  t  It  was 
like  the  fly  in  the  amber.  The  Chinamen  made  passionate 
efforts  to  represent  their  condition,  but  to  no  purpose.  Not  a 
motion  of  a  hand  of  theirs  was  interpretable,  and  the  captain  of 
the  ship  growing  wearied,  tilled  on  his  vessel  and  proceeded  on 
his  course. 

There  are  confrontments,  I  say,  in  the  sea  life,  which,  being 
unintelligible  on  the  face  of  them,  no  man  who  has  his  reason 
will  attempt  to  explain.  It  was  as  likely  as  not  that  the 
brigantine  was  a  Norwegian  that  had  fallen  in  with  an  emigrant 
vessel  in  distress,  had  taken  off  all  or  most  of  the  people,  and 
then  run  short  of  provisions  and  water.  But  there  was  so  much 
to  keep  me  thougjitful  in  other  ways,  that,  though  tragically 
strange  as  it  was,  it  was  not  an  incident  to  constrain  my  atten- 
tion to  it  as  though  all  had  been  well  with  us,  and  the  thing  no 
more  than  a  brief  break  in  the  monotony  of  a  sunny  voyage. 


A  FESTIVE  DOG-WATCH  165 

The  reflection  that  grew  out  of  it  was — what  sort  of  treat- 
ment were  Miss  Grant  and  I  to  expect  from  men  in  whom  selfish 
fear  could  so  work  as  to  render  them  insensible  to  the  most 
piteous  of  all  the  demands  which  the  stern  usage  of  the  sea  can 
force  from  human  distress  t  It  was  the  same  selfish  fear  that 
kept  them  quiet.  One  might  guess  there  would  be  no  mad 
broaching  of  rum-puncheons  with  them.  They  were  too  much 
alarmed  with  their  situation  to  risk  anything  for  the  want  of 
unclouded  brains.  Indeed,  their  sobriety  was  as  good  as  a  hint 
of  their  distrust  of  me.  They  very  well  knew  that  my  one  con- 
suming desire  must  be  to  escape  with  Miss  Grant  from  the 
T>rig ;  also  that  I  was  sailor  enough  to  perceive  there  was  no 
chance  for  me  in  that  way  outside  the  speaking  of  a  ship  that 
would  be  willing  to  take  us  ofE  e  They  treated  me  with  a  sort 
of  negative  civility  indeed  ;  that  is  to  say,  they  kept  away  from 
our  end  of  the  brig,  and  jumped  to  my  orders ;  but  then  my 
knowledge  of  navigation  rendered  me  so  important  to  them  that 
they  could  not  do  without  me ;  though  what  haunted  my  mind 
as  I  stood  with  Miss  Grant,  watching  the  dim  flicker  of  the 
brigantine's  canvas  on  the  edge  of  the  wide  blue  sweep  of  sea, 
was,  that  a  day  must  presently  come  when  the  high  land  of 
Cuba  would  be  heaving  into  view,  and  what  then  would  hap- 
pen ?  There  was  something,  too,  inexpressibly  malignant  to  my 
fancy  in  the  request  of  the  men  that  I  should  let  them  know 
when  we  were  within  a  day's  sail  of  the  island  ;  and  the  mere 
inability  to  gauge  the  meaning  of  this  desire  was  enough  to  keep 
every  instinct  in  me  writhing  in  a  torment  of  uncertainty. 

It  was  noon,  however,  and  I  went  below  for  Broadwater's 
quadrant.  It  was  a  primitive  appliance,  and  likely  as  not  to  be 
inaccurate.  However,  I  made  eight  bells  with  it,  watched  closely 
by  the  men  as  I  screwed  away  at  the  sun,  and  then  returned  to 
the  cabin  to  work  out  the  sights.  I  used  Broadwater's  room,  as 
the  conveniences  I  required  were  in  it,  and  whilst  I  sat  at  the 
little  table  Miss  Grant  arrived  and  stood  behind  me,  looking 
over  my  shoulder  as  I  jotted  down  the  figures.  She  was  anxious 
to  know  where  we  were.  I  unrolled  the  chart,  and  pointed  to 
our  position. 

'It  is  still  a  long  way  to  Cuba,'  she  exclaimed,  bending  her 
stately  figure  over  the  chart.  Her  mouth  was  as  firm,  her  face 
as  composed,  her  gaze  as  steadfast,  soft,  and  serene  as  though 
she  were  viewing  some  picture  in  a  book. 

'Yes,'  I  groaned,  'a  weary  long  way.' 

She  seated  herself  on  a  little  locker  at  the  foot  of  old  Broad- 
water's  bunk.  Her  beauty  was  like  a  light  upon  the  atmosphere 
of  the  quaint,  somewhat  darksome  interior.  You  would  have 
needed  to  peep  in  at  the  door  to  appreciate  the  curiosity  of 
contrast  wrought  by  her  warm  and  glowing  presence,  the 
glimmer  of  ameer  light  in  threads  of  her  hair,  as  though  the 
brown  of  it  were  self-luminous,  the  unconscious  graceful  dignity 
of  her  attitude,  and  by  the  odd,  rough  furniture  of  the  cabin ; 


168  MAROONED 

the  suit  of  clothes  with  the  tarpaulin  hat  on  top,  swinging  like 
the  figure  of  Broadwater  himself  at  the  bulkhead ;  the  soles  of 
the  }ack-boots  sprawling  in  the  shadow  under  the  bunk,  with 
her  little  feet  a  yard  away  from  them  ;  the  rough,  time-bronzed 
pilot-coat,  hanging  behind  her  as  a  canvas,  so  to  speak,  for  the 
perfections  of  her  clear  skin  and  the  flash  of  her  dark  eyes  to 
show  on. 

She  leaned  towards  me,  folding  her  hands  over  her  knee,  and 
said, '  Will  it  be  possible  to  escape  from  this  brig  ? ' 

I  started  and  exclaimed,  '  I  have  been  full  of  that  fancy  since 
the  brigantine  hauled  on.  No ;  I  do  not  think  it  is  possible. 
We  must  take  such  luck  as  we  may  find  here.' 

'  I  want  you  to  understand,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  said  she,  '  that  if 
any  scheme  of  escape  should  occur  to  you,  you  will  find  me 
equal  to  it.  I  shall  not  mind  what  I  do,  indeed.  I  will  dress  up 
as  a  man — I  will  row  an  oar — yes  !  I  can  row.  I  am  not  afraid 
of  firing  pistols.  Alexander  will  tell  you  I  am  a  good  shot.' 

She  looked  down  into  her  lap  with  a  faint  smile,  then  her  eyes 
met  mine  again — a  full  gaze,  brilliant  with  inquiry. 

'  WelL'  said  L  '  I  had  not  been  in  your  company  ten  minutes 
before  I  guessed  that  you  would  be  the  proper  sort  of  girl  for  a 
pinch.  I  was  right,  and  so  you  see,  spite  of  my  being  so  young, 
I  am  capable  of  taking  a  correct  view  sometimes  of  human 
nature.' 

She  laughed  softly,  and  with  a  foreign  gesture  of  her  hand 
said,  'You  are  too  impetuous,  too  emotional.  One  would  hardly 
think  you  an  Englishman,  you  abandon  yourself  so  readily  to 
impressions.' 

'It  may  be  as  you  say,'  said  L  feeling  somehow  almost  as 
much  confused  by  her  manner  and  by  her  beauty  as  on  the  day 
when  she  had  first  stood  before  me  in  the  parlour  of  the  London 
lodging-house ;  '  but  this  anxiety  is  new  in  you.  What  makes 
you  talk  of  escaping  from  the  brig  ? ' 

'Simply — as  I  have  said,  Mr.  Musgrave — that  if  you  have 
any  scheme  I  am  willing  to  bear  as  good  a  part  in  it  as  if  I  were 
a  man.'  She  drew  herself  erect,  as  though  she  would  suggest 
physical  as  well  as  intellectual  strength. 

'I  have  no  scheme,'  said  I ;  '  would  to  God  I  could  see  my  way 
to  one ! ' 

'Might  we  not  lower  the  boat  that  hangs  at  the  vessel's  side?' 

I  shook  my  head  quickly.  '  No,'  said  I,  '  there  is  always  the 
fellow  at  the  wheel.  How  should  we  be  able  to  lower  a  boat, 
even  on  the  blackest  night,  unperceived  by  him  ? ' 

'  But  could  you  not  gag  him  1 '  said  she.  '  I  could  help  you  to 
pinion  him,  and  then  stand  over  him  pistol  in  hand,'  smiling, 
yet  with  a  world  of  resolution  in  her  gaze,  '  whilst  you  let  the 
boat  sink  to  the  water.' 

I  went  to  the  door  and  peeped  out  to  make  sure  that  nobody 
was  listening. 

'Supposing,'  said  I,  approaching  her  close  that  she  might 


A  FESTIVE  DOG-WATCH  167 

hear  my  voice,  which  was  scarce  more  than  a  whisper,  'we 
should  succeed  in  getting  away  in  the  boat,  what  would  be  our 
fate  in  a  little  open  ark  in  the  middle  of  the  great  Atlantic, 
exposed  all  day  to  the  broiling  sun,  and  all  night  to  the  heavy 
dews,  to  say  nothing  of  squalls,  thunderstorms,  gales,  putrefying 
calms,  and  the  rest  of  the  conditions  of  the  glorious  ocean  life  ? 
No,  no  !  dismiss  that  from  your  mind — for  your  own  sake,  Miss 
Grant — my  cousin  would  shoot  me  for  subjecting^  you  to  such 
risks  and  privations.  But,'  I  continued,  anxiously,  for  I 
thought  I  might  find  a  hint  in  her  woman's  cleverness,  'this 
thought  is  new  in  you.  Why  do  you  wish  to  escape  from  the 
brig  7  A  bitter  strong  wish  it  must  be  when,  to  gratify  it,  you 
are  willing  to  face  the  hazard  of  a,n  open  boat.' 

'  Oh,  Mr.  Musgrave,  I  am  shocked  by  the  inhumanity  of  the 
crew.  I  had  believed  them  plain  sailors  forced  into  evil  by  bad 
treatment,  but  whose  better  natures  would  appear  again  when 
the  tyranny  they  suffered  from  had  ceased.  I  think  so  no 
longer.  I  fear  their  intentions  towards  us  may  be — may  be — 
I  am  frightened  by  the  vagueness  of  their  directions  to  you. 
They  speak  of  Cuba,  but  they  name  no  part  of  it.' 

'  Hush  ! '  I  cried,  hearing  a  footstep.  Mole  put  his  head  in 
the  door,  knocking  with  his  great  knuckles  on  the  bulkhead 
as  he  did  so. 

' Beg  pardon,'  said  he ;  'I  thought  I'd  just  come  along  and  see 
how  the  land  lies  with  us  to-day.' 

There  was  insolence  in  this  intrusion,  but  then  I  had  to  con- 
sider it  was  my  own  bringing  about.  He  stood  in  the  doorway, 
peering  in,  in  a  posture  civil  enough,  cap  in  hand,  filling  the 
frame  of  the  door  with  his  great  figure. 

'  Here,'  said  I,  putting  my  finger  upon  the  chart, '  is  the  brig's 
position  to-day  at  noon.' 

He  came  to  the  table  and  peered  close. 

1  The  vessel's  heading  west  by  south,'  said  he,  after  a  pause  ; 
'this  here  map  don't  show  the  West  Indies.' 

'  No,'  said  I,  '  it  is  the  North  Atlantic  only  ;  but  there  should 
be  a  track-chart  in  that  bag  to  give  you  all  the  bearings 
you  want.' 

There  were  nearly  a  dozen  charts  rolled  up  in  the  bag.  I 
pulled  out  four,  and  on  opening  the  fifth  found  it  to  be  what  I 
needed — a  track-chart  of  the  world.  This  I  spread  before  Mole, 
and  left  him  to  find  out  for  himself  whither  a  west  by  south 
course  would  carry  us  from  the  point  of  latitude  and  longitude 
I  pencilled  upon  the  chart.  It  is  an  old  saying,  and  a  terribly 
trite  one  too,  that  a  man  must  go  afloat  to  see  the  wonders  of 
the  Lord ;  and  'tis  equally  true,  that  a  man  who  is  a  lover  of 
strange,  odd,  surprising  pictures,  will  find  them  nowhere  in 
greater  perfection  than  at  sea.  When  I  recall  that  little  cabin, 
with  the  dim  blue  light  sifting  through  the  glass  of  the  closed 
scuttle, — the  muscular,  swaying  figure  of  the  sun-darkened  sea- 
man stooping  over  the  chart,  his  great  hairy  paws  flat  upon  the 


158  MASONED 

table,  his  hair  hanging  from  his  brow  like  a  fall  of  rain  from 
the  edge  of  a  cloud,— Miss  Grant  sitting  silent  and  watchful, 
her  white  fingers  clasped  upon  her  knee,  with  the  flash  of  a  gem 
there  that  seemed  to  be  reflected  in  every  slight  movement  of 
her  dark  eyes, — myself  subduing  the  worry  and  anger  within 
me  to  the  best  careless  demeanour  that  I  could  contrive  by 
leaning  my  cheek  upon  my  hand,  softly  whistling  some  light 
sea-tune,  to  which  I  Kept  time  by  an  easy  striking  of  the  table 
with  the  pencil  I  held, — Broadwater's  clothes  swinging  with  the 
swaying  of  the  ship  from  pegs  in  the  bulkhead,  with  other 
rude,  homely  details  of  ocean  furniture,  already  described,  to  fill, 
as  it  were,  the  spaces  between  the  human  interests  of  that 
interior  with  novel  colour  and  touches  remote  from  all  shore- 
going  experience ; — I  say,  when  I  recall  this  picture,  I  ask  myself, 
Where's  the  like  of  such  a  scene  to  be  encountered  save  on  that 
liquid  surface^  whose  cradling  respirations  deepened  yet  the 
strangeness  of  the  whole  by  communicating  those  vitalizing 
elements  of  sound  and  motion  incommunicable  by  the  pen  ? 

Mole  stood  erect  presently,  and  looked  for  his  cap. 

*  Well,  I  hope  the  course  I  am  shaping  satisfies  you  f '  said  L 

'It'll  work  out  as  true  as  a  hair,  it  seems  to  me,'  he  answered. 

|  To  what  ^art  of  Cuba  are  we  sailing,  Mr.  Mole  ? '  inquired 
Miss  Grant,  in  her  most  natural  manner,  without  any  attempt 
at  an  artless  voice  or  a  face  of  innocent  wonderment. 

'We  ain't  decided  yet,'  he  answered  promptly,  picking  up  his 
cap  and  going  to  the  door.  '  We  mean  to  keep  Charles  clear  of 
the  gallows  if  we  can.  Cuba's  a  good  bit  off  yet,  and  when  Mr. 
Musgrave  lets  us  know  that  it's  within  a  day's  sail,  we  may 
have  to  tarn  to  and  discuss  what's  to  be  done,  onless  we've  come 
to  an  agreement  beforehand.' 

He  gave  a  nod  towards  the  state-cabin,  and  turning  upon  us 
again,  said,  'The  cook's  asked  me  to  say  your  dinner's  ready, 
sir.'  He  then  went  on  deck. 

We  found  a  very  tolerable  meal  prepared  for  us.  The  cook. 
having  put  the  dishes  upon  the  table,  left  us  to  ourselves ;  and 
as  we  sat  close  together  we  were  able  to  talk  freely  without 
fear  of  our  subdued  voices  penetrating  to  any  attentive  ear 
that  might  be  lurking  at  the  skylight.  I  told  Miss  Grant  it 
would  need  very  little  consideration  to  assure  us  both  that,  if 
we  valued  our  lives,  we  must  make  no  effort  to  escape  by  the 
hazard  of  such  a  deed  of  violence  as  that  of  gagging  and 
pinioning  the  man  at  the  wheel.  Failure,  I  said,  must  lead  to 
iny  being  murdered  out  of  hand,  and  then  she  was  to  think  of 
herself  as  alone  with  a  lawless  body  of  people,  who,  on  the 
strength  of  our  attempt,  would  hold  themselves  discharged  from 
the  obligation  they  now  recognized  to  keep  their  distance  and 
treat  us  civilly. 

She  shuddered  at  this.  'It  is  the  dread,'  she  exclaimed, 
pressing  her  hand  to  her  forehead,  'of  anything  happening  that 
might  separate  us,  that  might  end  in  leaving  me  alone  witjt 


A  FESTIVE  DOG-WATCH  169 

these  men,— it  is  this  dread,  Mr.  Musgrave,  which  makes  me 
talk  of  attempting  to  escape  whilst  we  are  together,  and  whilst 
I  feel  my  spirit  equal  to  any  call  that  you  can  make  upon  it. 
The  prospect  of  an  open  boat  is  dreadful,  I  admit,  but  it  would 
be  paradise  in  comparison  to  my  finding  myself  alone  in  tliia 
brig.'  f 

'It  is  because  we  must  remain  together,  come  what  may,'  said 
I,  speaking  with  a  degree  of  emphasis  and  passion,  as  I  can  now 
recall,  to  which  I  have  little  doubt  in  another  mood  her  eyes 
would  have  sank  with  such  a  little  trembling  play  of  smile  on 
her  lips  as  I  had  once  before  noticed,  '  that  I  dare  not  risk  our 
-fceing  separated  by  so  much  as  the  movement  of  a  finger,  without 
feeling  sure  of  the  result.  Besides,'  I  continued,  sinking  my 
voice  again,  'even  if  we  should  agree  to  attempt  to  escape  by 
the  boat,  it  would  be  better  to  wait  until  we  had  closed  the 
Cuba  coast  than  commit  ourselves  to  the  heart  of  the  great 
solitude  we  are  now  in.'  I  said,  gently  and  soothingly,  'You 
have  been  shocked  by  the  cruelty  of  the  men  in  refusing  help 
to  the  people  of  the  brigantine.  Their  behaviour  has  excited  a 
new  dread  of  them  in  you.  You  have  sufiered  a  little  shadow 
to  darken  your  glorious  courage.  But  again  and  again  you 
have  told  me  to  believe  that  all  will  be  well.  All  will  be  well ! ' 
I  exclaimed,  taking  her  hand  in  both  mine :  'you  have  too  much 
of  the  heroine  in  you  to  render  the  issue  of  this  horrible  voyage 
uncertain.  Your  courage  will  shine  out  afresh.  A  little  patience 
and  the  gloom  will  have  passed.  I  need  every  bit  of  encourage- 
ment you  can  give  me,  and  shall  be  the  pluckier  and  the 
stronger  for  your  own  strength  and  bravery.' 

She  kept  her  face  averted,  and  a  tear  fell  from  her  cheek.  I 
believe  I  never  acted  more  wisely  in  my  life  than  by  leaving 
her  without  another  word  and  withdrawing  to  my  cabin,  and 
remaining  there  until  I  felt  calm  enough  to  be  able  to  talk  to 
her  with  clear  perception  of  the  meaning  of  niy  presence  on 
board,  and  of  the  object  of  our  journey. 

When  the  dog-watch  between  six  and  eight  came  round,  the 
evening  was  so  gentle  and  lovely  that  I  cannot  remember  the 
like  of  it.  All  day  long  we  had  kept  the  brig  under  the  same 
canvas  which  had  been  set  in  the  morning,  and  she  still  floated 
forwards  to  the  tender  propulsion  of  the  white  cloths,  rising  in 
soft  spaces  to  the  sun-gilt  trucks,  whilst  the  sheen  flowing  oil  the 
studding-sails,  which  overhung  the  sides,  trembled  in  the  blue 
surface  under  the  swinging-boom  as  though  the  water  were 
touched  with  a  beam  of  moonshine  there.  But  the  breeze  had 
weakened  into  a  quiet  wind  that  scarcely  gave  us  a  speed  of 
three  miles  in  the  hour.  _  The  sea  was  tremulous  under  the 
warm  breathing  of  the  wind,  but  every  ripple  ran  foamlessly, 
and  the  swell  was  so  faint  you  had  to  watch  the  mastheads  to 
make  sure  that  the  airy  life  you  felt  in  the  deck  was  not  fanciful 
I  had  charge  of  the  brig,  and  often  stopped  in  my  walk  to 
exchange  a  few  sentences  with  Miss  Grunt,  who  waa  seated 


170  MAROONED 

near  the  skylight.  The  ugly  half-caste  Ladova  was  at  the 
wheel.  A  few  seamen  were  sitting  on  the  forecastle-head  smok- 
ing, but  presently  I  noticed  the  cook  come  out  of  his  little 
caboose  with  a  small  kid  or  tub  in  his  hand,  the  steam  of  which 
seemed  grateful  to  him,  for  as  he  walked  on  to  the  forecastle  he 
kept  his  head  overhanging  it  as  though  inhaling  it.  He  set  the 
kid  down  very  carefully  near  the  scuttle.  The  loungers  in  the 
head  gathered  round,  and  seemed  to  sniff  up  the  incense  with 
great  satisfaction,  as  might  be  gathered  from  their  several 
postures  and  the  expressions  on  their  faces,  though  I  was  at  too 
great  a  distance  to  hear  what  they  said.  The  cook  returned  to 
the  caboose,  and  shortly  afterwards  emerged  with  an  armful  of 
pannikins,  which  he  placed  close  alongside  the  steaming  kid.  I 
eyed  these  proceedings  uneasily.  It  was  not  hard  to  guess  that 
the  steam  yonder  rose  from  something  stronger  than  water. 
One  of  the  fellows  put  his  head  into  the  scuttle  and  called  out, 
and  in  a  few  moments  the  rest  of  the  crew  came  on  deck. 
Amongst  them  was  Mole,  who  sprang  through  the  hatch  with  a 
fiddle  in  his  hand.  His  first  act  was  to  step  up  to  the  kid,  dip 
a  pannikin  into  it,  and  take  a  sip.  The  brew  was  evidently  to 
his  taste,  for  he  gave  the  cook  a  nod,  drained  the  pannikin,  and 
screwing  the  fiddle  to  his  shoulder,  fell  to  tuning  it. 

*  They  mean  to  be  merry,'  said  I  to  Miss  Grant. 

'Will  there  not  be  enough  drink  in  that  wooden  tub,'  she  said, 
*  to  make  them  intoxicated  ? ' 

*  Depends  on  the  strength  of  the  mixture/  said  I.  '  Mole  gave 
me  his  word  that  there  should  be  no  drunkenness  aboard  us.     I 
fancy  the  fellows  are  too  distrustful  of  me  to  swallow  more  than 
will  hearten  them  to  a  couple  of  hours  of  jollity.    Strange  there 
should  have  been  a  fiddle  aboard  all  this  time,  and  it  should 
never  have  been  played  until  now.    'Tis  to  be  Jack's  requiem 
over  Broadwater.    God  help  us !  what  a  muddle  that  creature 
has  brought  us  into.' 

Just  then  Mole  held  up  his  hand  to  attract  my  attention. 
'Jest  a  bit  of  sailors'  pleasuring,  Mr.  Musgrave,' he  sang  put; 
'  no  more'n  '11  help  us  to  tune  up  our  pipes,  and  put  a  bit  of 
spring  into  our  flat  feet.' 

I  responded  quickly,  with  an  answering  flourish  of  my  hand. 
'You're  quite  right,  my  lads.  Never  was  there  a  crew  more 
fairly  entitled  to  a  spell  of  merry-making.' 

'  Boys  ! '  shouted  Mole,  who  seemed  somewhat  excited,  '  to 
the  lady,  bullies !  Dip  to  her  and  to  his  honour  atop,  my  livelies. 
Time  from  me,  my  noble  fellows ! ' 

'Hold!'  I  cried,  entering  into  the  spirit  of  the  thing,  'let 
Ladova  be  of  you. 

I  went  to  the  wheel.    '  Jump,'  said  I,  '  and  drink  our  healths  ! ' 

He  ran  forward.  Mole  then  dipped  for  a  second  draught,  and 
•tood  with  his  pannikin  poised,  waiting  for  the  others  to  fill. 
It  was  a  sea  picture  just  then  to  haunt  a  man  to  his  grave,  so 
charged  was  the  colour,  the  beauty,  the  freshness  of  it,  with  the 


A  FESTIVE  DOG-WATCH  171 

horrible  significance  of  the  condition  of  things  aboard.  The 
manly,  handsome  figure  of  Mole,  in  white  duck  trousers,  blue 
Bhirt  leaving  his  mossy  breast  bare,  round  hat  perched  on  the 
back  of  his  head,  arms  of  ^  a  giant  naked  to  above  the  elbow, 
holding  his  pannikin  high  in  marine  festive  posture, — the  group 
behind,  with  their  pannikins  upheld  in  imitation  of  him,  here 
and  there  a  bright  eye  gleaming  out  of  a  shaggy  face  past  some 
brawny  shoulder,  the  olive  features  of  the  half-blood  contrasting 
with  the  dingy  white  of  the  cook, — the  smoking  crimson  back- 
ground of  the  west,  against  whose  effulgent  reaches,  rising  from 
scarlet  at  the  sea-line  to  a  sweep  of  delicate  golden  haze  over 
-the  mastheads,  each  figure  stood  out  clear  cut, — the  loveliness 
of  the  great  circle  curving  from  the  glory  over  one  cathead  into 
the  dark  blue  of  the  east,  and  back  again  to  the  effulgent  sky 
and  sea  over  the  bow ; — it  was  indeed  a  scene  not  to  be  lightly 
forgotten,  charged  as  it  was  with  the  spirit  of  the  beauty  of  the 
evening,  and  with  the  memory  of  murder  and  of  bitter  wrong- 
doing, and  with  our  present  fears. 

_ '  Time  from  me,  my  livelies  ! '  cried  Mole,  with  a  look  over 
either  shoulder ;  then  holding  his  pannikin  high  and  gazing  aft, 
'  One — Two — Three ! '  At  the  last  word,  and  in  utter  silence, 
flash  went  every  man's  pannikin  to  his  mouth,  and  in  token 
that  our  healths  had  been  effectually  drunk,  every  fellow  held 
his  pannikin  inverted.  The  thing  was  done  with  a  military 
precision  that  must  have  won  a  laugh  from  me  at  any  other 
time ;  but  before  merriment  was  practicable,  one  wanted  to 
know  how  much  liquor  the  kid  held,  and  how  much  spirit  had 
gone  to  the  manufacture  of  the  contents  of  the  little  tub. 

Miss  Grant  rose  and  courtesied  towards  the  forecastle  with 
inimitable  grace,  whilst  I  raised  my  hat  to  the  dumb  salute  of 
the  inverted  pannikins.  Then  Ladova  returned,  and  I  fell  to 
pacing  the  deck  again,  saying  to  Miss  Grant,  as  I  lingered  abreast 
ot  her  a  moment  with  a  careless  glance  aloft,  that  this  was  a 
sign  of  goodwill  on  the  part  of  the  men  that  ought  to  help  the 
courage  of  us  both. 

Mole  seized  his  fiddle  afresh,  and  vaulting  on  to  the  forecastle- 
capstan  played  a  brisk  polka.  Next  to  jigging,  Jack  loves 
polking ;  the  hornpipe  heads  the  list,  but  the  polka  stands  next. 
The  sailors  formed  themselves  into  couplesz  and  in  a  few  moments 
were  twisting  and  sliding  round  the  musician,  There  was  fun 
to  be  got  out  of  even  the  mere  sight  of  the  capers  their  legs  cut, 
and  the  enjoyment  on  their  faces  grinning  over  one  another's 
shoulders  as  they  revolved.  The  cook,  wanting  a  partner,  danced 
alone,  a  detail  or  this  little  passage  or  jollity  that  rendered  the 
whole  scene  inexpressibly  childish.  I  said  to  Miss  Grant,  '  Is 
there  in  all  human  nature  a  simpler-hearted  creature  than  the 
sailor  t  What  landsman  could  find  diversion  in  dancing  as  those 
fellows  are  I  In  fact,'  said  I, '  Jack  has  all  the  simplicity  of  the 
savage,  with  a  touch  of  the  savage's  unpleasant  qualities.  There 
is  nothing  in  memory  to  hinder  him.  O  bserve  how  heartily  Mole 


172  MAROONED 

saws,  as  if  all  had  been  and  still  was  as  well  with  this  ship  a* 
at  the  day  she  lay  in  the  PooL  Only  a  few  hours  ago  one  or 
maybe  more  yonder  struck  Broadwater  down  and  tossed  him 
overboard.  Yet  the  punch  is  not  the  less  sweet  to  their  palates. 
They  shake  as  lively  a  foot  as  any  sinless  soul  could.' 

'  See  the  half-blood  I  He  dances  all  over.  Every  bit  of  him 
to  his  very  eyes  is  on  the  move.  He  hops  about  with  pure 
Spanish  enjoyment.  That  rude  deck  there  might  be  a  ball- 
room for  him,  and  the  rough  company  of  the  sailors  a  polished 
fandango,'  said  Miss  Grant. 

'Ay,'  said  I,  'and  I  dare  say  he  would  not  quiver  about  the 
less  briskly  for  the  thought  that  the  shadow  of  the  gallowg 
which  awaits  him  lies  dark  to  the  light  of  the  setting  sun, 
somewhere  behind  the  slope  of  that  sea-line.' 
,  And  yet  somehow,  spite  of  the  gloomy  thoughts  which  came 
to  me  out  of  these  merry-making  Jacks,  there  was  something  in 
the  sound  of  the  fiddle,  and  in  their  skimming  and  twisting 
ligures,  to  give  a  deeper  oceanic  meaning  to  the  whole  picture 
of  the  brig,  slowly  pushing  her  way  towards  the  crimson  west, 
,  with  the  ripple  from  her  stem  curling  into  a  flash  of  golden  fire 
as  it  arched  round  to  the  sun,  than  it  got  from  the  mere  sapphire 
and  scarlet  and  hectic  of  the  heavens,  and  the  lovely  blue  of 
the  sea  floating  ahead  of  us,  and  melting  into  the  brightness 
under  our  jibboom.  I  thought  to  myself,  What  ship  sailing 
within  earshot  of  us  would  guess  that  this  peaceful  brig  had 
been  the  theatre  of  tragedies  as  dreadful  in  their  way  as  any- 
thing of  a  like  kind  that  has  ever  happened  upon  the  high  seas  T 
But  every  vessel  afloat  has  an  inner  and  secret  life  of  her  own. 
A  procession  of  ships  is  like  a  concourse  of  human  beings ;  no 
man  can  imagine  what  is  passing  in  the  hearts  of  them — what 
wild,  what  glad,  what  frigntful,  what  pathetic  memories  may 
linger  in  their  dark  and  sealed  depths.  V  iewed  from  a  distance 
on  this  evening,  the  Iron  Crown  would  have  presented  a  spectacle 
full  of  beauty,  of  softness,  of  gentleness,  into  which  there  would 
have  entered  a  seeming  element  of  happiness,  of  peace,  and  of 
innocence,  from  the  cheerful  notes  of  the  fiddle  over  which 
yonder  manly-looking  sailor's  head  drooped,  and  from  the  brisk 
and  hearty  figures  which  slided  round  about  the  capstan,  with  a 
sailor's  true  delight  in  every  heave  of  the  leg  and  in  every 
revolution  of  the  body. 

When  the  polka  came  to  an  end,  Mole  dismounted  and  handed 
the  fiddle  to  the  half-blood,  who,  grinning  with  an  almost  negro- 
like  countenance  of  enjoyment,  took  the  other's  place,  and 
struck  up  the  well-known  hornpipe  air,  Jock  Robinson.  Mole 
took  the  deck  alone ;  the  others,  every  man  holding  a  pannikin 
newly  dipped,  drew  off  hot  and  merry  to  look  on,  some  sitting, 
eome  lounging.  Carefully  screwing  his  hat  on  his  head,  Mole 
took  the  preliminary  walk  round,  and  then  broke  into  the 
ocean-dance,  with  the  perched  figure  of  the  half-blood  behind 
him  fiddling  most  ably.  I  never  in  all  my  life  saw  the  horn- 


A  FESTIVE  DOG-WATCH  173 

pipe  better  danced.  There  was  so  much  expertness  indeed  as 
almost  to  make  one  forget  one's  dislike  or  the  fellow.  The 
admiration  of  the  spectators  sobered  their  grins,  and  they  gazed 
with  sedate  appreciation.  Sometimes  one  or  another  rapped 
put,  *  Hurrah,  bully !  You're  the  lad  for  the  girls ! '  '  Swing  to 
it  my  lively ! '  'Bully  for  you,  Terry,  bully  for  you ! '  and  the 
lite,  accompanied  by  a  frequent  lifting  of  the  pannikins.  With 
his  hat  |  on  nine  hairs,'  as  sailors  say,  his  arms  sometimes  folded 
upon  his  breast,  sometimes  one  hand  upon  his  hip,  the  other 
lifted,  his  loose  white  trousers  fluttering  against  the  scarlet 
background,  his  rough  hair  tossing  upon  his  brow,  with  the 
spirit  of  the  thing  shining  in  his  eyes,  Hole  slappeo.  the  deck 
"with^his  feet  till  it  rattled  like  castanets  in  the  hands  of  a 
Spanish  dancer,  jigging  it  so  inimitably  well  indeed  that  Miss 
Grant  could  not  remove  her  eyes  from  him,  whilst  I  gazed 
positively  fascinated  by  the  gilded  sea-picture.  Indeed,  it 
stirred  old  memories  in  me  as  nothing  else  had  done  since  we 
first  weighed  anchor.  It  took  me  back  to  the  forecastle  of  the 
grand  old  Indiaman  when  the  sultry  dog-watch  was  growing 
cool  to  the  dewy  eastern  shadow.  I  clapped  my  hands  loudly 
when  Mole,  half -breath!  ess  with  exertion  and  purple  with  heat. 
brought  his  dance  to  an  end  with  a  smart  blow  of  his  foot  ana 
a  bow  to  us  aft,  as  finely  managed  as  any  courtier  could  have 
contrived  it  Then  after  an  interval  he  took  the  fiddle  again, 
and  the  others  fell  a-dancing,  and  when  they  were  tired  they 
•ang  songs. 

_  By  this  time  the  evening  had  drawn  over  us.  There  were  long 
lines  of  hectic  in  the  west  and  rusty  streaks  of  expiring  scarlet, 
but  the  stars  were  shining  brilliantly,  and  the  gloom  of  the 
night  was  already  darkening  out  the  forecastle  upon  the  eye 
into  an  airy  dusk,amid  which  the  shapes  of  the  seamen  were 
scarcely  visible.  But  I  had  already  noticed  with  satisfaction 
that  the  tub,  which  had  been  tilted  that  the  last  drop  might  be 
dipped  out  of  it,  was  left  unreplenished.  One  fellow  sang  with 
a  fine  voice — who  it  was  I  knew  not ;  it  was  a  clear  rich  bari- 
tone, and  went  floating  up  amongst  the  sails,  whose  wan  hollows 
gave  the  notes  back  in  aim  echoes.  I  leaned  with  Miss  Grant 
over  the  rail  listening.  An  occasional  delicate  sob  of  water 
rose  from  the  clear  profound,  clouded  with  misty  bursts  of  sea 
fire,  which,  mingling  with  the  fellow's  voice,  gave  a  quality  of 
softness  and  even  of  pathos  to  it.  Nearly  all  the  songs  sung 
were  of  a  sentimental  cast,  and  were  accompanied  by  either 
Mole  or  Charles  with  the  fiddle ;  and  though  broad  day- 
light would  no  doubt  have  found  the  sounds  for  the  most  part 
commonplace  enough,  yet  the  airs,  even  when  delivered  by  some 
hoarser  pipe  than  usual,  took  a  note  of  romance  and  a  quality 
of  unreality  from  the  overshadowing  presence  of  the  liquid 
night,  the  melancholy  spaciousness  of  the  dark  sea  extending 
on  all  sides,  the  dimness  of  the  extended  wings  of  canvas  on 
high,  the  stillness  upon  the  deep  that  was  scarce  disturbed  by  the 


174  MAROONED 

breathing  of  the  warm,  dew-laden  night- wind  into  the  sails,  and 
the  almost  oppressive  hush  you  found  when  amid  the  intervals 
of  the  songs  you  sent  your  gaze  into  the  dark  blue  dome 
brilliant  with  stars  which  jewelled  every  point  of  spar,  every 
shadowy  end  of  boom,  every  phantasmal  length  of  yard  of  the 
faint,  pale  fabric,  looming  large  above  the  delicate  glimmer 
of  the  decks. 

All  was  hushed  and  in  darkness  forward ;  one  figure  alone 
could  be  made  out  crossing  the  stars  in  a  regular  pendulum 
tread  on  the  forecastle,  when  Mole  came  aft  to  relieve  me.  The 
excitement  of  the  drink  and  the  dance  had  gone  out  of  him.  He 
said,  '  Ye  see  the  men  are  well  in  hand,  Mr.  Musgrave  :  there's 
nothen  to  be  feared  from  their  liquorizing,  as  I  told  you. 

'I  was  glad  to  notice  that,'  I  answered  ;  'your  jollifications, 
indeed  your  doings  of  any  kind,  are  no  concern  of  mine  outside 
the  lady's  safety  and  my  own.  I  heartily  wish  that  you  under- 
stood navigation,  and  that  you  could  take  charge  of  the  brig,  for 
in  that  case  you  would  have  no  objection  to  putting  Miss  Grant 
and  me  aboard  the  first  craft  that  would  be  willing  to  take  us. 
The  deuce  of  it  is,  Mr.  Mole,'  continued  I — for  I  hoped  he  might 
have  come  to  me  with  a  disposition  rendered  a  trifle  generous 
by  the  dog-watch  festivity,  and  would  be  willing  therefore  to  talk 
a  little  more  freely  than  at  another  time — '  the  lady  is  bound  to 
Eio  under  my  'jharge,  to  be  married  to  a  cousin  of  mine  who  lives 
at  that  place,  and  the  road  there  by  way  of  Cuba  threatens  so 
long  a  delay,  that  besides  the  secret  grieving  of  the  lady  over 
her  prolonged  separation  from  her  sweetheart — and  you,  Mr. 
Mole,  as  an  English  sailor,  will  understand  her  feelings — there 
is  the  worry  of  my  cousin  to  be  considered.  He  will  think  the 
ship  lost ;  he  may  fancy  me  false  to  my  trust  perhaps.' 

He  waited  a  little  before  answering,  and  then  said  very 
civilly,  *  I  can  quite  onderstand  yours  and  the  lady's  feelings. 
We're  all  sorry  for  ye  both,  I  assure  you  ;  but  we  don't 
mean  to  let  Charles  swing  :  we  don't  intend  to  put  ourselves 
in  the  way  of  the  law,  and  so,  as  you've  been  already  given 
plain  to  onderstand,  Mr.  Musgrave,  there  mustn't  be,  and  there 
won't  be,  no  speaking  of  ships.  'Sides,'  he  continued,  with  a 
sudden  rounding  upon  me,  so  to  speak,  in  his  manner.  '  supposing 
the  hands  consented  to  your  transshipping  yourselves,  ain't  it 
a  million  to  one  that  the  vessel  woiddn  t  oe  bound  to  Rio,  or  any- 
wheres near  it  ?  In  that  case,'  he  added  with  a  laugh,  which  he 
instantly  checked,  '  you're  as  well  off  here  :  for  Cuba's  nearer  to 
Eio  than  the  Cape  o  Good  Hope  or  the  Indies  'ud  be,  and  for  all 
you  know,  the  ship  you  enter  might  be  bound  to  them  parts,  or 
further  off  still — to  Chiney  or  New  Zealand.' 

Spite  of  his  civil  manner,  I  judged  there  was  little  more  to 
come  from  a  chat  with  him  than  ill-temper  on  his  side  and  in- 
creased mortification  and  anxiety  on  mine,  so  telling  him  that 
the  course  to  be  steered  throughout  the  night  was  the  course 
we  had  been  heading  all  day,  I  went  below  to  join  Miss  Grant, 


A  FEStlVE  DOG-WATCH  175 

I  told  her  what  Mole  had  said,  and  we  sat  talking  till  about  nine 
o'clock;  and  then  observing  her  to  look  very  weary,  for  she  had 
slept  but  little  during  the  previous  night,  I  beggea  her  to  with- 
draw, saying  that  I  myself  needed  rest,  as  I  should  have  to  turn 
out  again  at  twelve  o'clock.  Nevertheless,  though  professing 
myself  tired;  I  was  in  no  humour  to  go  to  bed.  It  was  impossible 
to  sit  alone  in  that  cabin  without  thinking  of  old  Broad  water, 
a  fancy  that  sent  the  eye  instinctively  to  the  smudge  that  still 
lurked  darkly  in  the  stain  of  the  wood  at  the  foot  of  the  cabin- 
steps.  A  stouter  heart  than  mine  might  have  owned  to  a  sense 
of  timidity  without  a  feeling  of  shame.  The  voyage  indeed  had 
been  more  like  a  nightmare  than  the  grim  reality  it  was,  with 
its  teeming  life  of  brutality  and  ugly  deeds.  It  seemed  but 
yesterday  that  the  brig  had  floated  past  the  bald  terrace  of  the 
South  Foreland,  and  yet  in  the  brief  interval  of  the  few  weeks 
seven  men  of  our  slender  company  had  vanished  one  after 
another,  and  every  man  to  such  an  accompaniment  of  tragic  and 
scaring  conditions  as  to  cause  the  memory  of  his  death  or  of  his 
going  to  lay  upon  the  mind  with  the  significance  of  yonder  stain 
upon  the  planks.  Then  again  I  was  haunted  by  the  recollection 
of  the  gaping  and  supplicating  figures  which  had  that  morning 
piteously  motioned  to  us  for  heip,  and  of  the  white-bearded 
old  man  whose  uplifted  eyes  and  trembling,  pointing  hand 
had  made  his  curse  upon  us  as  articulate  as  though  the  ear  had 
received  every  syllable  of  the  malediction. 

But  this  sitting  alone,  with  nothing  to  break  in  upon  one's 
thoughts  but  the  thin,  weak  groans  of  the  fabric  stealthily 
swayed,  was  but  melancholy  work.  I  went  to  my  cabin,  and 
was  about  to  undress  myself,  when  it  occurred  to  me,  that  since 
the  brig  was  now  in  possession  of  the  crew,  whose  condition 
might  not  be  quite  so  sober  as  that  of  Mole,  it  would  be  as  well 
for  me  to  look  to  my  pistols.  I  charged  and  primed  them  both, 
and  then  remembering  that  Miss  Grant  had  talked  as  though 
she  could  handle  a  fire-arm  with  thorough  knowledge  of  its  use, 
I  resolved  to  give  her  one  of  the  brace  to  lodge  under  her 
pillow,  or  to  place  ready  to  hand.  I  did  not  doubt  that  a  spirit 
such  as  hers  would  find  something  tonical  and  supporting  in 
the  mere  notion  of  a  loaded  weapon  lying  close  to  her  grasp. 
In  sober  truth,  I  feared  more  for  her  than  for  myself.  My  life 
was  too  serviceable  to  the  men  just  now  to  render  me  uneasy 
on  my  own  account ;  but  it  was  otherwise  with  Miss  Grant. 
Who  could  tell  but  that  amongst  that  lawless  band  there  were 
some— ^even  one — with  instincts  to  be  easily  rendered  devilish 
with  liquor?  I  see  myself  now,  standing  in  that  little  cabin, 
grasping  a  pistol  in  either  hand,  my  imagination  forward  in  the 
torecastle:  picturing  the  dim  light  of  the  slush- lamp  there,  fling- 
ing its  faint,  wavering  ^illumination  over  _  the  seamen  sitting  in 
their  bunks,  or  with  hairy  faces  overhanging  the  edges  of  their 
hammocks,  dangerously  gay-hearted  with  the  drink  they  had 
drained,  and  with  the  dance  and  songs,  which,  coming  into  their 


17«  MAROONED 

hard  lives,  were  a  sort  of  intoxication  in"  themselves,  talking  of 
their  jinks  ashore,  of  their  carousals,  of  their  Polls  and  Susans, 
till  one  of  them  perhaps  would  speak  of  Miss  Grant 

I  opened  my  door,  crossed  the  narrow  passage,  and  gently 
knocked  upon  the  bulkhead  of  my  companion's  cabin.  She 
instantly  asked  who  it  was  that  knocked.  I  answered.  In  a 
few  moments  she  opened  the  door.  The  light  from  my  own 
cabin-lamp  was  upon  her,  for  the  berths  were  exactly  abreast. 
Her  hair  hung  upon  her  shoulders,  one  hand  grasped  the  neck 
of  her  dressing-gown  against  her  white  throat,  giving  her  an 
aspect  of  sudden  alarm,  which  the  peculiar  brilliance  of  her 
steadfast  eyes  could  not  have  defeated  but  for  the  composure 
of  her  lips. 

'  What  is  it,  Mr.  Musgrave  T '  she  asked. 

I  now  regretted  my  action.  Here  was  I  grasping  a  brace  of 
pistols,  and  it  seemed  a  stupid  and  nervous  bit  of  behaviour  in 
me  to  disturb  this  girl,  and  thus  confront  her. 

'You  have  told  me  you  are  not  afraid  of  fire-arms/  I  ex- 
claimed. *  It  has  occurred  to  me  that  one  of  these ' 

She  looked  at  the  weapon  I  extended  with  a  smile,  then 
without  a  word  entered  her  cabin  and  returned. 

'There,'  she  exclaimed,  'you  will  see  that  I  am  as  fully 
prepared  ai  you.  Indeed  I  think  I  am  better  off,  for  yours,  1 
fancy,  are  a  little  old-fashioned,  whilst  mine  I  am  sure  would 
prove  the  deadlier  weapon.' 

She  stepped  aside  that  the  light  might  shine  upon  the  pistol 
she  held.  It  was  a  very  handsome  piece,  with  a  long  glittering 
barrel,  mounted  in  silver.  '  See,'  she  exclaimed,  raising  it.  Her 
nostrils  trembled,  she  drew  herself  erect  with  a  slight  backward 
leaning  of  her  head,  and  levelled  the  pistol  past  me  with  a  smile 
that  was  made  almost  scornful  by  the  proud,  sparkling  deter- 
mination of  the  gaze  she  fixed  upon  me.  On,  for  a  painter's 
brush  to  give  you  the  queenly  figure  and  pose  of  her  as  she 
thus  stood !  Her  arms  sank  to  her  side,  and  she  said  quietly, 
*  Have  no  fear  for  me,  Mr.  Musgrave.  Should  I  be  called  upon 
to  defend  myself,  I  shall  know  how  to  do  it.' 

I  again  wished  her  good-night,  and  returned  to  my  cabin, 
feeling  somehow,  as  Jonathan  says,  a  bit  mean,  though  tor  what 
reason  I  do  not  know,  unless  it  was  that  such  a  combination  of 
beauty,  coolness,  and  courage  made  one  fancy  that  the  best  sort 
of  manhood  in  comparison  with  it  could  not  but  be  somewhat 
insignificant  Indeed  it  did  me  good  to  think  of  the  tear  she  had 
let  fall  that  day,  and  to  remember  that  now  and  again  a  natural 
timidity  and  fear  had  broken  out.  After  all,  thought  I,  as  I 
looked  round  for  a  convenient  hiding-place  for  niy  pistols,  it  is 
always  the  woman  that  forms  the  most  admirable  part  of  the 
heroine, 


MAROONED  177 

CHAPTEB  XXTT 

MAROONED 

HOWEVER,  as  it  turned  out,  the  fears  which  had  led  me  to  the 
handling  of  my  fire-arms,  and  to  my  disturbing  Miss  Grant, 
proved  groundless.  The  night  passed,  quietly.  Mole  roused  me 
at  eight  bells  by  beating  over  my  head,  and  when  I  went  on 
deck  I  found  him  as  vigilant  as  need  be,  the  ship  sailing  quietly 
along,  the  watch  below  turning  out,  everything  as  orderly,  in 
short,  as  though  Broadwater  still  haa  charge,  with  Mr.  Both  well 
wit  hand  as  an  instrument  to  drive  discipline  home  with. 

So  it  was  next  day,  and  so  it  was  next  night,  and  for  many 
days  and  many  nights  afterwards.  For  a  whole  week  together 
we  sailed  along  without  handling  a  brace  or  lifting  the  clews  of 
a  royal  To  be  sure,  it  was  weather  to  be  expected  in  those 
parallels.  The  trade-wind  hummed  over  our  quarter,  sometimes 
merrily  enough  to  put  an  edge  of  froth  to  the  curl  or  dark  blue 
ripple,  sometimes  so  softly  that  I  would  think  we  had  lost  it, 
when  I  noticed  the  light,  long,  azure  swathes  winding  as  un- 
wrinkled  as  a  surface  of  polished  steel  to  the  blue  distance  with 
the  shadowing  of  the  tender  draught  between.  The  men  were 
very  orderly ;  they  kept  to  their  quarters,  and  never  one  of 
them,  with  the  exception  of  Mole  or  the  cook,  who  punctually 
waited  upon  us,  so  much  as  put  a  foot  upon  the  companion- 
steps.  They  did  no  work  ;  the  decks  remained  unwashed  :  what 
trifling  decoration  of  brass  there  was  about  the  vessel  grew 
green ;  the  paintwork  became  grimy  and  blotched  with  heat 
and  neglect ;  the  sailors  lounged  about  the  deck  all  day,  smoking 
and  yarning,  and  then  when  the  cool  of  the  second  dog-watch 
came,  they  would  fill  their  little  tub  with  punch,  dance,  sing 
songs,  and  fall  to  the  sort  of  merry-making  I  have  described. 
The  pigs  belonging  to  the  brig  they  killed  by  degrees,  and  also 
made  free  with  the  cabin  provisions  and  the  live  stock  :  but  our 
own  private  stores  they  never  offered  to  touch.  Every  day,  after 
working  out  my  observations,  I  would  show  Mole  our  position 
on  the  chart,  but  I  was  careful  not  to  question  him.  In  fact  his 
own  and  the  resolved  attitude  of  the  others  satisfied  me  that 
they  had  made  up  their  minds,  that  they  had  agreed  upon  a 
scheme  from  which  nothing  was  to  divert  them,  and  of  which  it 
was  their  intention  to  keep  me  in  ignorance  ;  and  I  saw  there 
was  no  remedy  for  Miss  Grant  and  myself  but  patience. 

Well,  the  time  passed  in  this  way,  one  day  being  the  counter- 
part of  another,  and  the  hours  seemed  as  minutes  when  one 
looked  back,  so  monotonous  it  all  was,  though  our  consuming 
expectation  and  anxiety  made  the  end  seem  so  remote  that  I 
would  feel  sometimes  as  if  I  must  fall  mad  from  the  mere  wait- 
ing for  it.  Now  and  again,  but  at  long  intervals,  we  sighted  a 
sail ;  but  it  was  always  at  a  distance,  and  I  would  bring  my  eye 

V 


178  MAROONED 

with  a  sort  of  loathing  in  me  from  the  gleam  of  it.  so  ironical 
would  be  its  accentuation  of  our  condition,  so  idle  and  distracting 
the  yearnings  it  awoke  in  me.  But  one  day  there  came  a  change 
of  weather.  A  shift  of  wind  had  happened  in  the  morning 
watch  when  I  was  below,  and  when  I  went  on  deck  I  found  the 
atmosphere  thick,  the  breeze  off  the  port-bow,  and  the  brig 
under  all  plain  sail,  with  the  yards  braced  fore  and  aft.  I  made 
nothing  of  this  at  first,  for  I  never  doubted  that  it  would  brighten 
out  into  tropical  fairness  again  in  an  hour ;  but  finding  that  it 
continued,  I  grew  uneasy.  For,  as  I  could  catch  no  sight  of  the 
sun,  "* 
and 

navigator 

rusty  appliances  of  aged  quadrant  and  infirm  chronometer,  I 
feared  that  my  earlier  calculations,  supplemented  by  such  guess- 
work as  dead  reckoning  implies,  would  find  me  all  adrift  when 
the  time  came,  as  I  should  suppose,  to  report  that  Cuba  might 
be  looked  for  in  twelve  or  twenty-four  hours.  I  say  I  was 
afraid,  for  reassuring  as  might  be  the  behaviour  of  the  men  now, 
it  was  impossible  to  foresee  what  posture  they  would  take  if 
they  should  find  me  wrong  in  my  navigation.  Indeed  my  very 
life  might  depend  upon  my  accuracy.  They  would  suspect  1 
had  wilf  dlly  deceived  them,  and  God  alone  knows  what  usage 
I  should  ^receive  from  them  if  they  worked  themselves  into  a 
passion  over  this  fancy. 

The  nights  were  as  thick  as  the  clays.  I  never  turned  out  in 
the  dark  without  an  eager  look  aloft ;  but  the  gloom  came  down 
to  pur  mastheads :  not  the  leanest  phantom  of  a  star  was  ever 
visible,  and  the  dawn  was  again  and  again  the  same  feeble 
filtering  of  granite-coloured  light  through  a  sullen  grayness  of 
heaven  that  yet  left  the  sea-line  bare  to  its  confines ;  and  the 
breeze,  blowing  warm  and  moist  as  a  woman's  breath  over  the 
olive-tinctured  deep,  never  once  parted  this  melancholy  shadow 
into  a  break  wide  enough  to  give  us  the  dimmest  view  of  the 
azure  behind  it.  I  told  Mole  that  as  the  brig  was  off  her  course, 
with  a  certain  amount  of  leeway  to  be  accounted  for,  and  as  I 
had  nothing  to  depend  upon  but  the  log-line,  it  would  be  impos- 
sible for  me  to  guarantee  that  we  should  hit  the  Cuba  coast.  I 
said  this  to  him  at  noon  on  the  second  day  of  the  thick  weather, 
whilst  with  quadrant  in  hand  I  stood  hoping  for  an  apparition 
of  the  sun. 

He  looked  at  me  suspiciously  under  the  mat  of  hair  that 
drooped  upon  his  brow,  and  said, '  But  we  ain't  outside  five  days' 
sail  of  it,  are  we  ? ' 

'About  that,'  I  answered. 

'Then  how  can  we  fail  hitting  the  island!'  he  exclaimed. 
'  It's  long  enpTigh  j  there's  range  or  coast  to  keep  it  in  sight  if  it 
was  as  high  in  the  air  as  the  moon  is.  The  brig  s  head's  west  by 
north,  half -north,  two  and  a  half  points  off.  Our  position  being 
known,  we  shall  be  able  to  tell  when  it  is  time  to  go  about.' 


MAROONED  17ft 

'Ay,'  said  I,  'but  put  her  about,  and  where  will  she  be  head- 
ing to?  South-south-east  won't  serve  our  turn,  Mr.  Mole. 
Besides,  Pm  not  sure  of  the  currents  hereabouts.  Captain 
Broad  water's  instruments  are  not  of  the  best,  you  must  know, 
and  his  charts  are  as  old  as  his  quadrant.  He  had  made  the 
run  to  Rio  so  often  that  he  could  smell  his  way  along  ;  but  here 
am  I,  no  experienced  navigator,  mind  you,  heading  right  away 
off  Broadwater's  course,  and  thrusting  into  a  smother  that 
leaves  me  nothing  but  the  log-line  to  work  my  way  by.' 

I  saw  he  did  not  like  this  at  all.  He  eyed  me  very  uneasily, 
with  a  shadow  of  temper  rising  to  his  face. 

„  'Should  be  mere  crow-flying  work,  it  seems  to  me,'  he  ex- 
claimed ; '  'tain't  as  if  it  was  a  rock  you  was  heading  for.  Look 
at  the  length  of  the  Cuba  coast,  sir,  on  the  chart.  West  by 
south's  the  course ;  that's  ondoubted,  if  the  compass  don't  lie. 
Werry  well ;  you're  within  five  days  of  a  range  pretty  nigh  as 
long  as  one  side  of  Europe.  How  can  ye  be  a  missing  of  it  with 
the  log  a-going  every  two  hours,  and  the  course  showing  clear 
in  yonder  binnacle  ? ' 

'  As  you  are  so  cock-sure,'  said  I,  defiantly, '  I  heartily  wish 
you  would  relieve  me  of  the  responsibility  of  navigating  the 
vessel.  Since  you  know  all  about  it,  take  charge  of  her  I  I've 
done  my  best,  and  will  resign  my  trust  gladly.' 

'  No,  no,  by ,'  he  cried,  with  an  oath  ;  '  we've  kept  to  our 

side  of  the  agreement,  you  keep  to  yourn.  You  ondertook, 
under  conditions  which  the  crew  s  complied  with,  to  navigate 
this  brig  to  within  a  day's  sail  of  Cuba,  and  then  tell  us  when 
we  was  arrived  at  it.  We  must  hold  ye  to  that,  sir,'  he  added, 
with  a  dark  look. 

'  What  I've  done,  I've  done  honestly,1  said  I ;  '  I  have  been  as 
loyal  on  my  side  as  I  admit  the  crew  have  been  conscientious 
on  theirs.  Use  me  as  you  will — I  am  in  your  power  and  cannot 
help  myself,  and  you  know  it ! — I  have  performed  my  share  of 
the  cursed  compact ! '  with  which  I  turned  on  my  heel,  leaving 
him  standing  and  following  me  with  his  eyes. 

Well,  for  five  days  and  five  nights  the  thick  weather  lasted. 
The  end  then  came,  very  fortunately  for  me,  for  had  this  spell 
of  bitter  anxiety  been  protracted  another  week,  I  believe  my 
mind  would  have  become  unhinged.  The  distrust  of  the  men 
had  grown  so  keen  that  they  watched  me  as  if  I  were  a  rattle- 
snake. Their  very  ignorance  of  navigation  rendered  them  the 
more  suspicious.  Every  day  Mole  took  the  chart  forward  and 
showed  them  where  we  were,  by  dead  reckoning,  and  you  would 
see  them  shouldering  one  another  as  they  looked,  flinging  a 
note  of  growling  upon  the  air  with  their  combined  utterances, 
pointing  to  the  chart  with  their  thumbs,  and  then  gazing 
around  the  sea  as  if  there  should  be  something  there  to  furnish 
them  with  a  hint  of  the  true  situation  of  the  brig. 

At  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  sixth  day,  when  Mole 
arrived  on  the  quarter-deck  to  relieve  me,  the  ocean  lay  aa 

N  2 


180  MAROONED 

darkly  shrouded  as  it  had  been  at  any  time  since  the  first  of 
tliis  gloom  had  gathered  around  us.  The  wind  had  shifted  at 
noon  on  the  previous  day,  arid  the  course  I  then  shaped  was 
west-south-west,  but  at  midnight  it  had  headed  us  again,  and  the 
brig  had  broken  off  to  west  by  north.  Yet  the  breeze  had  been 
steady  throughout ;  we  had  shown  royals  to  it  the  whole  time, 
and  it  had  made  life  as  easy-going  aboard  as  ever  the  steady 
wafting  of  the  trade- wind  had  ;  that  is  to  say,  it  demanded  no 
pulling  and  hauling  from  the  men,  no  furling  or  setting  again. 
Under  a  close  luff  the  Iron  Grown  broke  the  short  gray  seas 
with  her  larboard  bow  with  a  handsome  trend  to  leeward, 
as  was  to  be  noticed  by  the  run  of  the  short  streak  of  oily 
wake  veering  away  on  the  quarter. 

Mole  was  grim  and  surly  as  an  unshaven  sailor  newly 
awakened  when  he  arrived.  I  was  not  less  sullen  than  he,  sick 
at  heart  with  the  four  hours'  straining  of  my  eyes  in  search  of 
a  stan  and  weary  besides  with  the  fatigue  that  comes  to  a  man 
put  01  anxiety,  idle  conjecture,  and  a  sense  of  uncertainty,  that 
in  my  case  was  heightened  by  waiting  into  a  sort  of  anguish.  I 
briefly  a$id  sulkily  gave  him  the  news  of  the  four  hours,  which 
amountt  \  to  nothing,  and  with  a  yawn  and  a  shiver  went  below, 
and  to  bed. 

I  was  awakened  from  a  deep  sleep  by  a  thumping  of  heavy 
knuckles  on  the  bulkhead  outside.  I  started  up,  conceiving  J 
had  overslept  myself ;  that  it  was  past  the  hour,  in  short,  when 
I  should  have  relieved  Mole  ;  but  on  looking  at  my  watch,  which 
hung  at  hand,  I  observed  it  was  but  seven  ox;lock.  The  knocking 
was  repeated. 

4  Who's  there  t '  I  sang  out. 

The  gruff  voice  of  a  seaman  named  Williamson  answered, 
*  Mr.  Mole  wants  ye  on  deck,  sir.' 

'Right/  I  answered,  jumping  out  of  my  bunk,  whilst  I 
wondered  if  some  fresh  tragedy  had  happened,  for  my  being 
called  in  this  way  brought  the  morning  of  Broadwater's  dis- 
appearance to  my  mind,  and  that  was  a  memory  to  crowd  my 
imagination  with  a  score  of  black  fears  and  anticipations. 
Meanwhile  I  took  notice  that  the  weather  had  cleared,  and  that 
it  was  a  fine  bright  morning.  The  shining  of  the  sunlight  upon 
the  scuttle  puzzled  me.  It  came  full  to  the  glass  in  a  brimming 
of  white  splendour  off  the  sea,  whereas  if  we  were  holding  our 
course  the  luminary  should  be  nearly  astern,  with  a  slanting^of 
his  radiance  along  our  sides,  out  of  which  no  beam  could  twist 
to  lie  as  the  light  now  lay  in  a  circular  tremble  of  pale  gold 
upon  the  door  facing  the  scuttle.  Nor  could  I  immediately  fail 
to  observe  that  the  brig  floated  steady.  My  ear  was  too  practised 
not  to  rightly  interpret  the  slopping  sounds  of  water  against 
the  run.  She  rolled  slightly  with  much  internal  creaking,  as  was 
natural  to  her ;  but  I  did  not  need  to  go  on  deck  to  gather  that 
either  her  topsail  was  to  the  mast  or  that  her  anchor  was  down. 

What  had  happened  t    I  lingered  a  minute  or  two  outside  my 


MAROONED  181 

cabin-door,  with  my  ear  against  the  bulkhead  of  Miss  Grant'a 
berth.  All  was  still  within.  I  knocked,  then  called  out  gently, 
'Is  it  well  with  you,  Miss  Grant?' 

'Yes ;  what  is  it  now,  Mr.  Musgrave?'  she  replied. 

I  answered,  '  I  cannot  tell.    I  am  now  going  on  deck/ 

'I  will  join  you  shortly,'  she  said. 

It  was  comforting  to  hear  her  voice.  In  such  a  vessel  as  the 
Iron  Crown  it  was  impossible  to  know  what  might  happen 
from  hour  to  hour,  and  I  protest,  when  I  listened  and  heard  no 
sound  in  my  companion's  cabin,  such  a  chill  of  dismay  for  an 
instant  fell  upon  my  heart,  that  the  sensation  was  as  bad  in  its 
jvay  as  the  realization  of  a  fear.  But  all  was  well  with  her,  and 
without  further  lingering  I  stepped  on  deck. 

It  takes  a  man  a  little  time  to  collect  the  details  of  a  picture. 
For  a  moment  perhaps  I  stood  in  the  companion-way,  looking 
aloft  and  upon  the  decks,  and  then  round  upon  the  sea.  The 
brig,  as  I  had  expected  to  find  her,  was  hove-to.  Her  mainsail 
was  hauled  up,  the  topsail  aback,  the  royals  clewed  down.  It 
was  a  very  clear,  brilliant  morning.  Every  vestige  of  the 
leaden,  oppressive  atmosphere  that  had  environed  us  throughout 
the  week  had  disappeared.  The  sea-line  ran  with  a  crystalline 
sheen  like  the  edge  of  a  lens  out  of  the  west ;  carrying  the  airy, 
delicate  gleam  with  it  in  its  curvature  to  the  east,  where  it 
broke  into  white  flame  under  the  hot  and  mounting  sun. 

Directly  on  our  starboard-beam,  at  the  distance  of  a  mile  or 
less,  stood  an  island.  The  blue  went  past  it  on  both  hands, 
and  the  atmospheric  hue  of  the  sky  beyond  was  assurance  posi- 
tive to  the  nautical  eye  that  the  ocean  was  on  that  side  as  well 
as  on  this.  It  showed  a  seaboard  of  a  couple  of  miles ;  the 
foreshore  of  it  apparently  coral  sand,  which  to  the  sunshine 
dazzled  out  almost  blindingly  against  the  dark  green  background 
of  bush,  tree,  and  small  savanna.  Here  and  there  that  lustrous 
beach  curved  into  a  little  creek  with  an  overhanging  of  palm- 
trees  on  either  side  of  it,  like  human  beings  bowing  to  one 
another.  The  breeze  was  light,  there  was  scarce  an  undulation 
of  swell,  and  the  thin  line  of  surf  crawling  out  of  the  blue  sur- 
face on  to  the  sand  came  to  the  eye  in  a  radiant  tremble ;  the 
shivering  of  it  seemed  to  put  a  sort  of  pulsing  into  the  whole  of 
the  foreshore,  as  though  the  steamy  heat  of  the  atmosphere 
caused  the  land  to  writhe  upon  the  sight.  It  was  a  low  island, 
a  Cay,  as  I  might  gather,  of  the  true  Bahaman  type,  with  a  green 
hummock  or  two  amidships  of  it ;  here  and  there  a  volcanic- like 
protuberance  of  land,  with  verdant  slopes  refreshing  to  the  eye 
to  rest  upon,  and  a  kind  of  swarming  of  trees  in  places,  their 
tops  above  the  sky-line  of  the  shore,  and  their  branches  defining 
a  fibrine  conformation  as  delicate  as  coral  against  the  liquid 
azure  past  them. 

The  sailors  leaned  over  the  side  of  the  brig,  looking  at  this 
island.  Mole  stood  gazing  at  it  close  to  the  companion,  with 
his  arms  folded,  manifestly  waiting  for  me  to  appear.  I  was  a 


182  MAROONED 

minute,  however,  in  the  hatch  before  he  -was  sensible  of  my 
presence. 

'That's  not  Cuba,  sir,'  he  exclaimed,  instantly  levelling  his 
finger  at  the  island. 

At  the  sound  of  his  voice  the  fellows  who  were  hanging  over 
the  rail  looked  round,  and  two  or  three  of  them  dismounted  and 
drew  near  ;  but  merely,  as  I  believed,  the  better  to  hear  what  I 
had  to  say,  for  there  was  nothing  threatening  in  their  manner 
or  faces. 

'  No,'  said  I,  stepping  out  of  the  hatch  to  command  a  clearer 
view  of  the  horizon, '  that  island  is  assuredly  not  Cuba,  as  you 
say,  Mr.  Mole.  "Tis  a  Cay,  with  a  name  of  its  own,  I  don't  doubt. 
Our  drift  must  have  been  to  the  north  of  west,  with  a  set  of 
current  that  has  thrown  me  all  abroad  in  my  reckonings.  Ill 
step  below  for  the  chart.' 

4  Never  mind  about  the  chart.'  he  exclaimed,  with  a  note  in  his 
voice  that  brought  me  to  a  dead,  stand  in  a  second ; '  that  island's 
beknown  to  us. 

The  half-blood  Charles  came  from  the  rail  with  his  hands  in 
his  breeches-pockets.  '  /  know  it,'  he  exclaimed,  with  a  peculiar 
expression  in  the  roll  of  his  sloe-like  eyes  upon  me  ; '  it  '11  do  as 
well  as  Cuba — maybe  better,'  he  added,  speaking  the  words 
through  his  nose  with  a  Yankee  drawL 

*  What  is  the  island  ? '  I  asked. 

'It'll  be  in  the  West  Indie  boiling,  anyhow,'  answered  the 
half-blood ;  '  it's  all  right.  No  civilization  on  it ;  no  blasted 
lawyers  to  choke  a  man  for  doing  his  messmates  a  good  turn.' 
He  whistled  softly,  with  a  half -smile  at  Mole,  then  swung  on  his 
heel  and  returned  to  the  rail 

Mole  eyed  me  steadfastly,  like  a  man  considering ;  the  others 
methought  with  something  of  pity  mingled  with  rough  curi- 
osity in  the  air  with  which  they  surveyed  me.  A  miserable 
feeling  of  uneasiness  possessed  my  mind.  Mole's  manner  was 
authoritative,  and  even  insolent,  a  behaviour  he  had  no  need  to 
open  his  mouth  to  utter.  But  the  others  showed  a  sort  of 
indifference ;  the  men  at  the  rail  just  looked  at  me,  then  re- 
sumed their  posture  of  surveying  the  island  ;  the  two  or  three 
who  had  drawn  near  eyed  me,  but,  as  I  have  said,  with  curiosity 
"only,  for  I  could  witness  no  malevolence  in  tneir  regard.  I 
confess  I  would  have  been  less  scared  had  the  whole  of  them 
closed  around  me  on  my  arrival  in  a  hubbub  of  savage  cries 
and  threats,  charging  me  with  having  deceived  them,  and  the 
like.  This  at  least  would  have  been  consistent  with  the  appre- 
hensions which  had  almost  worn  me  out  during  the  past  week  : 
but  the  careless,  half-composed  demeanour  they  now  opposea 
to  me  was  absolutely  terrifying,  and  I  vow  'twas  almost  a  relief 
to  turn  from  those  inquisitive  faces,  as  of  those  of  a  crowd  in  a 
street  staring  at  some  one  injured,  or  in  a  fit,  to  the  more 
denned  expression  on  Mole's  face,  showing  sullenly  some  darfc 
resolution  at  heart. 


^lAROONED  183 

I  put  my  hand  to  my  brow  and  swept  the  sea-line.  It  ran 
without  a  break  to  the  resplendent  shaft  of  sunlight  in  its 
bosom. 

'Is  this  the  only  island  in  sight  ? '  I  asked. 

'  Yes,'  said  Mole,  curtly. 

'Ay,  but  I  mean,'  I  exclaimed,  'is  there  no  more  land  visible 
from  the  masthead  ? ' 

'  There's  a  film  away  to  the  west'ards  in  sight  from  the  cross- 
trees,  that's  all,'  he  answered  grimly,  no  longer  softening  his 
words  with  the  '  sirs '  he  was  used  to  give  me.  '  We  should  nave 
been  ashore  had  it  held  thick.  The  course  ye  gave  me  was  dead 
_on  end  for  it.' 

I  glanced  at  the  topsail  hollowing  backwards  to  the  mast, 
then  at  the  island,  then  at  him,  and  said  suddenly,  '  What  do 
you  mean  to  do  ? ' 

He  fetched  a  deep  breath,  and  said, '  After  you  and  the  lady 
have  breakfasted,  we'll  put  ye  ashore.' 

On  hearing  this,  the  men  who  were  standing  near  us  at  the 
bulwarks  approached,  and  looked  on  and  listened  ;  yet  they 
exhibited  little  more  than  curiosity  in  their  manner. 

'Do  I  understand,'  said  I,  controlling  my  voice,  'that  it  is 
your  intention  to  put  the  lady  and  me  ashore  upon  that  little 
island,  and  leave  us  there  ? ' 

'  Yes,'  he  answered,  trying  to  look  me  full  in  the  face  ;  but  his 
eyes  fell  to  my  stare  of  horror  and  astonishment. 

'  Men,'  I  cried,  rounding  upon  the  others,  '  this  is  hard  usage 
to  give  a  man  who  has  -served  you  as  I  have.  Even  though  / 
should  have  deserved  this  treatment,  what  has  the  lady  done  to 
merit  it  1  Her  sympathies  were  with  you  all  from  the  very 
hour ' 

'  For  God  Almighty's  sake,  don't  argue,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  cried 
Mole,  stamping  heavily  with  his  foot,  and  accompanying  the 
gesture  by  a  nervous  sweep  of  his  arm.  '  Our  minds  are  made 
up.  Had  yonder  island  been  Cuba,  it  would  have  been  the 
same ;  we'd  have  set  ye  both  ashore.  You  and  the  lady  are 
witnesses  we're  bound  to  leave  behind  us,  no  matter  where.  It 
must  be  done ! ' 

He  stamped  again.  I  looked  at  the  half-blood,  and  was  about 
to  address  him,  but  he  immediately  returned  to  the  rail,  and  there 
hung  whistling,  keeping  time  by  drumming  with  his  fingers. 

' Mr.  Mole,'  said  I,  'it  is  in  your  power  to  give  us  a  better 
chance  for  our  lives  than  yonder  island  will  provide.  Why  do 
you  fear  us  as  witnesses  ?  I  am  willing  to  take  any  oath  you  and 
the  others  may  require  to  keep  the  events  of  this  voyage  secret. 
Miss  Grant  will  do  the  same.  Put  us  in  the  way  of  reaching 
some  inhabited  coast — send  us  adrift,  if  you  will,  within  a  dajrs 
reach  of  a  town,  I  do  not  care  where  it  may  be, — but  to  land 
and  leave  us  there  I '  I  pointed  to  the  island. 

He  turned  his  back  upon  me,  and  walked  without  reply  a 
few  steps  forward,  then  turning  suddenly  and  extending  las 


184  MAROONED 

arm,  with  his  great  hand  clenched,  cried  out,  'Mr.  Musgrave, 
I  have  begged  ye  not  to  argue.  It'll  do  no  good.  When  a 
man's  in  hell  he's  got  damnation  enough.'  He  swept  his  hair 
off  his  brow,  and  continued, '  Your  breakfast  11  be  sarved  afore 
long,  and  we  shall  then  want  you  to  be  ready.  She'll  carry  ye,' 
nodding  towards  the  quarter-boat ;  '  the  water's  smooth,  and 
you  can  take  what  you  will  that  belongs  to  you.  Best  bear 
a  hand  to  get  your  traps  together,  for  we've  got  no  notion 
ourselves  of  hanging  hove-to  here.'  He  turned  his  back  again 
upon  me,  thrust  in  among  four  or  five  men  who  were  at  the 
bulwarks,  and  stood  with  them  looking  at  the  island. 

'Do  they  mean  to  set  us  ashore,  Mr.  Musgrave  ?' 

Miss  Grant  was  at  my  side,  glancing  from  the  island  to  around 
her,  with  a  face  in  which  one  saw  the  first  flushing  of  conster- 
nation yielding  to  a  cooler  mood  even  as  one  watched  it. 

'  Yes,  I  answered. 

'What  island  is  that  ?'  she  exclaimed. 

'  I  &>  not  know,'  I  replied. 

'  CaA  you  not  find  out  I ' 

'It  is  doubtless  one  of  the  Bahama  group,  but  which  it  is 
impossible  to  say,  seeing  how  wildly  wrong  I  nave  proved  in  my 
reckonings.  It  is  seemingly  known  to  the  half-blood,  but  there 
is  nothing  to  be  got  from  nim  or  from  the  others,  the  merciless 
villains ! 

'  Is  it  inhabited  ? '  she  inquired. 

'No.  If  it  were  I  should  welcome  the  act  of  cruelty  as  a 
deliverance  from  an  intolerable  situation.' 

She  took  me  by  the  arm,  and  led  me  a  little  distance  aft  out 
of  earshot  of  the  men.  Mole  peered  at  us  past  the  rounded  back 
of  another  fellow,  with  irritable  impatience  in  his  posture  of 
doing  so.  She  viewed  the  island  for  a  little  while  without  speak- 
ing, apparently  lost  in  thought.  Her  breath  came  and  went 
tranquilly.  The  fear  that  had  for  a  moment  or  two  shone  in  her 
eyes  being  gone,  I  could  not  discern  the  least  symptom  of  alarm 
in  her.  I  stood  silent,  marvelling  at  her  composure,  wondering 
indeed  whether  it  did  not  owe  much  to  her  inability  to  compass 
what  the  men's  intentions  signified  to  us.  Presently  she  said 
quietly,  '  Will  not  the  chart  in  the  cabin  tell  us  what  this  island 
is?' 

'  I  will  look  when  I  go  below,'  I  replied,  but  added  bitterly, 
'  How  should  the  name  of  it  concern  us ? ' 

She  interrupted  me:  'No;  but  if  we  can  discover  _its  situa- 
tion, the  chart  would  show  us  which  is  the  nearest  inhabited 
land,  so  that  we  shall  know  in  which  direction  to  steer  when  we 
leave  that  place.'  I  was  about  to  speak.  '  Oh,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  she 
exclaimed  softly,  with  the  faintest  tremor  in  her  voice,  though 
her  face  flushed  to  the  spirit  of  resolution  in  her,  'I  would 
rather  things  should  be  as  they  are — I  would  indeed !  Our  life 
in  this  vessel  has  grown  unendurabla  My  nights  are  miserable. 
J  can  scarcely  rest  for  thought  of  the  plans  those  fellows  there 


MAROONED  185 

may  be  hatching.  We  shall  be  together  on  that  island  ;  the 
nightmare  of  fancy  that  haunts  me  of  being  left  alone  on  this 
brig — of  our  being  separated  through  some  deed  of  violence — 
will  be  ended.  The  worst  has  come,  so  far  as  they  are  concerned,' 
she  continued,  with  a  shuddering  half-turn  of  her  face  towards 
the  seamen,  and  there  at  least,'  directing  her  glance  at  the 
island,  '  I  shall  be  spared  the  hundred  _daily  and  nightly  dreads 
which  terrify  rne  here.  It  is  hard,  it  is  hard  ! '  she  muttered  in 
an  almost  musing  way.  '  but  it  is  less  than  I  feared.  They  never 
meant  that  you  should  be  able  to  bear  witness  against  the  half- 
blood,  against  themselves.  Some  kind  of  end  must  have  come, 
-Mr.  Musgrave.  It  is  miserable  as  it  is ;  but  time  after  time 
my  terror  has  foreboded  something?  infinitely  worse.' 

It  was  afterwards  that  I  recognized  the  truth  of  her  words  ; 
but  just  then  I  was  so  wild  and  crazed  by  this  blow,  by  the 
cold,  calculating  inhumanity  of  the  men,  in  whose  demeanour  I 
had  never  witnessed  the  least  hint  of  such  barbarous  usage  as 
they  were  now  about  to  give  us,  which  throughout  had  been 
their  intention  towards  us,  and  which  doubtless  was  the  reason 
of  their  demand  that  I  should  let  them  know  when  we  were 
within  a  day's  sail  of  the  Cuba  coast — I  say  that  at  that  time 
the  conflict  of  emotions  was  so  violent  in  me,  I  could  get  nothing 
out  of  the  composure  and  thoughtful  words  of  the  sweet  and 
noble  woman  at  my  side  but  a  sort  of  dull  wonder  at  her 
tranquillity. 

'  Your  breakfast's  gone  below,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  shouted  Mole ; 
'me  and  my  mates  11  be  obliged  by  you  and  the  lady  bearing 
a  hand.  Another  half-hour's  as  much  as  we  can  allow  ye.' 

'Let  us  go  to  the  cabin,'  said  Miss  Grant ;  'your  heart  will 
come  to  you  again  soon.  I  declare  I  thank  God  for  this  thing 
as  a  deliverance.' 

She  led  the  way,  and  I  followed.  The  cook  was  lingering  at 
the  table,  as  though  adjusting  it  to  his  taste,  but  on  our  showing 
ourselves  he  ran  nastily  up  the  steps,  fearful  perhaps  that  we 
should  address  him.  It  was  not  a  time  to  think  of  eating.  For 
my  part,  I  believe  a  crumb  of  biscuit  would  have  sufficed  to 
choke  me.  In  truth,  the  long  hours  of  bitter  anxiety  I  had 
suffered  had  unnerved  me ;  but  to  what  extent  I  should  not 
have  known  but  for  this  sudden  testing  of  my  courage.  I  saw 
Miss  Grant  look  as  though  she  meant  to  force  nerself  to  partake 
of  the  meal,  to  embolden  me  by  a  further  illustration  of  her 
coolness,  but  she  turned  away  after  a  minute,  and  said, '  What 
is  next  to  be  done  ? ' 

'  We  must  pack  up  our  traps,'  said  I ;  'we  are  at  liberty  to 
carry  our  luggage  ashore.  Asnore !  Good  God  ! ' 

I  could  scarcely  utter  the  words.  You  talk  of  going  ashore 
when  newly  arrived  off  a  town  ;  or  if  off  a  coast,  you  go  ashore  to 
return  again  to  the  ship ;  but  to  think  of  going  ashore  to  this 
little  island,  to  stop  there  with  nothing  in  sight  but  a  blue  streak 
of  haze,  visible  only  from  the  elevation  of  the  cross-trees— 


188  MABOONED 

'  Shall  we  take  all  we  have  ? '  asked  Miss  Grant,  as  collectedly, 
I  protest,  as  if  this  Atlantic  Ocean  were  the  English  Channel, 
and  there  was  a  boat  alongside  ready  to  carry  us  to  Plymouth 
or  Dover. 

4  Yes,'  I  answered,  almost  mechanically,  for  this  was  a  detail 
indeed  I  found  it  hard  to  bend  my  mind  down  to ; '  throw  what 
you  have  into  your  boxes  and  portmanteaux.  I  will  wait  for 
you  here.' 

In  five  minutes  I  had  stowed  my  possessions  away,  and  then 
going  to  Broad  water's  berth,  drew  a  chart  of  the  West  India 
Islands  from  the  bag,  and  returned  with  it  to  the  cabin.  I  over- 
hung it  eagerly,  but  to  little  purpose.  Here  was  a  stretch  of 
islands  starting  from  high  abreast  of  the  Florida  coast  and 
trending  away  down  to  Dominica,  and  which  of  them  that 

greer  <'and  gleaming  spot  of  land  out  to  starboard  was,  it  was 
opeless  to  conjecture.  At  a  later  date  I  might  have  put  my 
finger  upon  it  without  much  trouble,  but  Broadwater's  charts 
were  exceedingly  old,  and  this  one  of  the  West  Indies  was  com- 
plicated and  disfigured  with  ink-marks  and  dim  tracings  like  a 
school-boy's  lesson-book.  However,  there  could  be  no  doubt  that 
tliis  island  fringed  the  thicker  zone,  that  it  was  some  eastward 
sentinel  Cay,  such  as  Rum,  Cat,  or  Watling  Island,  and  that  civil- 
ization therefore  bore  from  it  as  the  sun  set ;  so  that  our  course, 
should  we  make  shift  to  get  away,  must  lie  to  the  west  and  south. 

Whilst  I  pored  upon  the  chart,  the  companion  was  darkened 
by  the  figure  of  a  man,  and  the  imperious  voice  of  Mole  rang 
down, '  Are  ye  ready,  Mr.  Musgrave  ? ' 

4 1  am  waiting  for  the  lady,'  I  replied. 

I  took  the  chart,  and  went  to  the  foot  of  the  companion-steps 
with  it.  '  Mr.  Mole,'  I  said, 4  I  have  served  you  as  honestly  as  it 
was  possible  to  me  in  the  navigation  of  this  brig.  It  is  surely 
not  too  much  to  ask  you  the  name  of  the  island  over  the  side, 
that  I  may  fix  its  position  here,'  pointing  to  the  chart, 4  so  as  to 
be  able  to  tell  in  what  quarter  of  this  bare  sea  the  inhabited 
lands  lie?' 

4  The  name's  of  no  consequence,  nor  its  bearings  either,'  he 
responded  grufHy ; '  ten  to  one  if  it's  wrote  down  on  a  chart  that's 
brought  us  up  with  a  round  turn  leagues  and  leagues  clear  of 
the  coast  we  aimed  at.  Bear  a  hand,  if  you  please,  sir  ;  the  men 
are  growing  impatient.' 

I  flung  the  chart  down  on  the  deck.  It  was  a  merciful  thing 
I  had  not  armed  myself,  for  I  was  so  mad  just  then  it  was  as 
likely  as  not  that  I  should  have  drawn  upon  the  ruffian,  and 
paid  the  penalty  by  being  tossed  over  the  side  with  a  lump  of 
holystone  seized  to  my  feet.  Miss  Grant  came  out  of  the  cabin. 

4 1  am  ready,'  she  exclaimed  ; '  are  we  expected  to  carry  our 
luggage  on  deck  ? ' 

I  called  to  Mole,  who  still  stood  at  the  head  of  the  companion- 
ladder,  'You  can  send  a  couple  of  men  for  the  boxes,  and  ao 
saying,  I  conducted  Miss  Grant  through  the  hatch 


MAROONED  187 

They  had  lowered  the  boat  and  brought  her  alongside  under 
the  gangway,  that  was  unshipped  with  steps  over  it.  A  few  of 
the  men  eyea  us  askant  as  though  ashamed,  yet  too  curious  not 
to  steal  a  glance.  The  half-blood  was  one  of  these.  I  thought 
to  myself — '  You  beauty  !  Old  Broadwater  after  all  had  the  true 
gauging  of  your  nature.  If  ever  the  gallows  were  put  to  a 
profitable  use,  it  will  be  when  you  dangle  from  it,  bleaching  to 
the  wind ! '  I  stood  with  folded  arms,  my  eyes  rooted  to  the 
deck,  Miss  Grant  by  my  side,  neither  of  us  speaking.  Somehow 
the  sense  of  bitter  humiliation  induced  by  the  thought  of  the 
sort  of  men  they  were  who  were  using  us  thus,  weakened  the 
deep  emotion  of  dismay  with  which  I  contemplated  our  abandon- 
Tnent  upon  that  island.  In  a  few  minutes  a  couple  of  fellows 
arrived,  bearing  our  luggage.  There  were  four  or  five  boxes 
and  portmanteaux,  along  with  a  carpet-bag  or  two,  some  bundles 
of  rugs,  a  hat-box,  and  the  like ;  and  I  cannot  express  the 
horrible  accentuation  these  prosaic  things  gave  to  our  condition 
when  one  looked  from  them  to  over  the  rail  at  the  line  of  white 
surf  melting  into  the  sparkling  sand,  with  the  greenery  beyond, 
without  a  hint  even  pi  savage  human  structure  to  relieve  the 
spirit  of  wildness  which  was  swept  into  the  heart  of  the  lonely 
place  out  of  the  infinite  oce*n  distance  by  the  blue  line  of  the 
horizon  going  past  it  on  either  hand.  The  two  men  who  had 
brought  the  luggage  dropped  over  the  side  into  the  boat ;  the 
boxes  and  portmanteaux  were  handed  over. 

'  Now,  sir,'  said  Mole. 

I  was  about  to  speak.  Miss  Grant  clasped  my  hand.  '  Hush  1 ' 
she  whispered, '  come ! ' 

Without  a  word  I  got  over  the  side  and  helped  her  to  descend. 
Suddenly  some  one  cried  out^  'They're  going  ashore  without 
anything  to  eat  or  drink.' 

'  'Vast  with  that  boat,  Jim  ! '  shouted  Mole. 

There  was  a  pause  of  a  few  minutes,  then  what  was  left  of 
our  private  stores  was  passed  over,  along  with  a  couple  of  beakers 
of  fresh  water  and  a  jar  of  spirits  belonging  to  the  bi*ig.  'Shove 
off ! '  sung  out  Mole,  *  and  bear  a  hand  back,  lads.' 

The  two  fellows  threw  their  oars  over,  and  the  little  boat, 
deep  with  the  weight  of  the  provisions,  the  luggage,  and  the  four 
people  in  her,  glided  shorewards  over  the  blue  rippling  surface. 
It  happened  strangely  enough  that  the  two  men  were  of  the 
three  (the  half-blood  being  the  third)  who  had  pulled  us  aboard 
the  Iron  Crown  from  Deal.  They  were  both  Englishmen,  with 
a  ginger-coloured  fork  of  beard,  a  wrinkled  skin,  dingy  with 
weather,  and  covered  with  knobs  like  the  foot  of  a  sea-boot.  They 
never  offered  to  speak  to  us,  and  strenuously  avoided  meeting 
our  eyes,  watching  indeed  the  shearing  of  their  blades  through 
the  clear  under  the  sapphire  edge,  as  though  indeed  they  were  a 
couple  of  draper's  assistants  out  for  an  hour's  row.  I  held  Miss 
Grant's  hano,  scarce  conscious  of  what  I  was  doing,  though  I 
afterwards  remembered  that  she  cherished  my  hola  of  it,  aa 


188  MAROONED 

though,  with  a  woman's  sympathy,  she  believed  I  drew  courage 
from  the  pressure  of  her  fingers,  and  for  that  reason  let  me  have 
my  way.  Had  we  been  going  ashore  to  some  bright  town  full 
of  life  and  conveniences,  whence  in  a  day  or  two  we  should  be 
able  to  start  for  Rio,  she  could  not  have  shown  herself  more 
perfectly  tranquil  and  easy.  Once  she  looked  behind  her  at  the 
receding  form  of  the  brig,  and  breathed  deep  a  moment,  but  the 
respiration  was  not  a  sigh.  For  my  part  I  never  turned  my 
head  ;  my  eyes  were  fixed  upon  the  island  we  were  approaching, 
but  with  a  feeling  of  numbness  in  my  mind  which  rendered 
curiosity  so  languid  that  I  gazed  as  if  it  were  some  passing  scene 
in  whicn  I  had  no  other  concern  than  that  of  a  spectator. 
^  The  men  made  for  the  nearest  of  the  creeks,  where  the  tender 
lifV  of  the  summer  sea  ran  foamless  to  the  shadows  cast  by 
tae  leaning  trees  on  either  side  ;  the  boat's  forefoot  struck 
the  almost  snow-white  sand,  which  went  winding  up  like  a 
silver  trail  through  the  herbage,  as  you  notice  it  on  the 
Mozambique  or  Natal  seaboard,  and  the  sailor  in  the  bows 
jumped  out.  The  spit  of  shore  that  formed  the  right-hand 
shoulder  of  this  creek,  looking  seawards,  shelved  so  flatly  to  the 
wash  of  the  surf,  that  you  saw  the  ocean  spreading  beyond  it 
to  the  open  sky,  with  the  brig,  her  topsail  still  aback;  barely 
leaning  from  the  wind,  her  canvas  and  hull  dark  against  the 
flashing  water  and  the  airy  splendour  beyond  her.  I  threw  a 
look  at  her  now,  and  thought  I  could  distinguish  the  tall  figure 
of  Mole,  watching  us  through  a  glass  which  he  steadied  against 
a  backstay.  The  seaman  who  remained  in  the  boat  handed  out 
our  luggage  and  provisions,  parcel  by  parcel,  to  the  other,  who 
dragged  or  carried  them  a  few  yards  clear  of  the  water's  edge. 
On  this  freight  being  discharged,  I  went  into  the  bow  and 
stepped  ashore,  Miss  Grant  springing  easily  from  the  gunwale 
with  her  hand  upon  my  outstretched  arm.  My  inward  rage  and 
despair  raised  so  great  an  aversion  in  me  from  the  two  sailors,  that 
the  mere  being  addressed  by  them  would  have  been  intolerable, 
and  I  was  brisk  in  quitting  the  boat  and  in  assisting  Miss  Grant, 
that  they  might  have  no  excuse  to  order  us  ashore.  But  I  had 
no  sooner  felt  the  ground  under  my  feet  than  the  conviction 
seized  me  that  we  were  to  be  left  without  a  boat !  I  had  not 
thought  of  this.  My  consternation,  ever  since  Mole  had  ap- 
prised me  of  the  intentions  of  the  crew,  had  been  so  great  that 
such  considerations  as  had  entered  my  mind  were,  as  I  may 
say,  instinctive  only;  by  which  I  mean,  that  when  a  thought 
occurred  to  me  it  was  accompanied  by  a  sort  of  dull  notion  of  its 
being  true.  I  had — I  know  not  why — reckoned  in  this  mechani- 
cal, instinctive  way  upon  our  being  furnished  with  a  boat :  had 
looked  at  the  chart  with  that  fancy  in  my  mind,  and  concluded 
that  when  we  left  the  island  we  must  steer  to  the  west  and  to 
the  south  ;  the  unconsidered  idea  in  me  being  that  we  should  be 
provided  with  a  boat.  But  now  I  understood  that  these  men, 
to  return  to  the  brig,  must  go  away  with  the  boat,  and  that  the 


MAROONED  189 

girl  and  I  were  to  be  marooned  to  the  very  height  of  the 
meaning  of  the  wild  old  buccaneering  word ! 

One  fellow  sat  ready  to  back  water ;  the  other,  standing  in  the 
bows,  was  in  the  act  of  poling  the  little  craft  off  to  get  her  head 
seawards.  I  sprang  in  a  bound  to  the  very  lip  of  the  shaling 
water. 

'  My  God,  men ! '  I  cried,  articulating  with  difficulty,  so 
tremulously  was  my  heart  beating,  so  choking  was  the  sense  of 
constriction  in  my  throat,  'you  do  not  mean  to  leave  us  here 
without  any  means  of  escaping  t  Lads,  as  sailors  and  English- 
men, show  some  pity.  We  are  without  a  refuge  ! '  I  cried,  almost 
hysterically,  pointing  inland ;  *  without  tools,  without  skill  to 
contrive  a  fabric  to  escape  from  this  horrible  solitude.  Men,  as 
you  are  English  sailors ' 

*  Shove  her  off,  Bill,'  growled  the  fellow  in  the  stern.  'Away 
with  us!  There's  no  use  talking,  and  nothen  can  come  of 
listening.' 

The  boat's  head  sped  round  to  the  thrust  of  the  oar  ;  the  two 
blades  dipped — sparkled— dipped  again  ;  in  a  few  moments  she 
was  clear  of  the  creek,  with  the  two  rowers  bending  to  their  toil 
as  though  they  were  pulling  for  a  wager. 

I  walked  slowly  to  where  Miss  Grant  was  standing.  I  think 
for  a  little  while  I  must  have  been  off  my  head,  as  the  common 
saving  goes,  for  I  recollect  shaking  my  fist  at  the  boat  and  the 
brig  beyond,  and  heaping  fifty  curses  upon  the  crew ;  until  ex- 
haustion, combined  with  the  sweltering  neat  of  the  sun  striking 
off  the  white  dusty  dazzle  upon  which  we  stood,  came  to  my  rescue, 
and  most  mercifully  silenced  me.  Miss  Grant  never  spoke,  never 
offered  to  interrupt  or  check  me.  She  allowed  me  to  talk  myself 
out,  and  then  taking  hold  of  the  sleeve  of  my  coat,  quietly  drew 
me  to  one  of  the  trunks  that  stood  under  the  shadow  of  a  tree, 
upon  which  by  a  gentle  movement  of  her  hand  she  induced  me 
to  sit,  and  then  extracting  a  little  silver-mounted  bottle  of 
refreshing  scent  from  her  pocket,  she  damped  her  handkerchief 
with  it,  and  held  it  to  my  forehead. 

I  believe,  had  there  been  a  tear  in  my  composition  my  eyes 
would  have  distilled  it  at  that  moment. 

I  broke  from  my  spell  of  womanly  weakness  with  a  very 
passion  of  resolution. 

'I  will  not  ask  you  to  forgive  this  failure  in  me,'  I  cried, 
'heartily  ashamed  of  myself  as  I  am.  A  little  patience,  and  I 
shall  hope  to  prove  myself  worthy  of  so  noble,  so  courageous 
a  companion  as  you.  I  should  not  have  suspected  so  much 
weakness  in  me.  I  cannot  believe  it  a  part  of  my  nature.  I 
have  been  unduly,  most  heavily  tried.  But  so  have  you ! '  I 
exclaimed,  finding  more  strength  coming  to  me  out  of  the  clear 
serene  beauty  of  her  eyes  than  any  cordial  could  have  inspired. 
*Oh,  we  will  make  it  well  for  both  of  us  yet.' 

I  sprang  to  my  feet  with  a  shake  of  my  body  that  was  like 
flinging  away  the  whole  miserable  girlishness  in  me  to  the  winds. 


190  MAROONED 

'  Nay,'  she  exclaimed,  '  keep  your  seat.  I  will  sit  by  your  side. 
"We  are  not  separated  yet,  Mr.  Musgrave.  I  swear,'  she  cried, 
lifting  her  eyes  to  heaven, '  I  would  rather  that  this  should  have 
happened  than  that  we  should  have  had  to  endure  another  week 
of  the  horrible  life  we  were  leading  in  that  cruel  ship.  We  are 
not  separated ;  but  who  knows  that  another  week  might  not 
have  found  us  so — might  not  have  found  me  alone?'  She 
shuddered  almost  convulsively,  then  instantly  rallying  with  an 
effort  of  will  that  was  a  miracle  in  its  way  for  the  energy  of  it, 
she  added,  in  a  changed,  softened  voice  full  of  sympathetic 
sweetness  and  the  melody  of  her  tones,  'How  refreshing  is 
the  shadow  of  these  trees !  how  sootliing  this  stillness !  We 
-,*1  shall  be  able  presently  to  think  what  is  next  and  best  to  be 
done.  Let  us  meanwhile  wait  and  see  what  they  intend  to  da' 
pointing  to  the  brig. 


CHAPTER  XYTTT 

WE  VIEW1  THE  ISLAND 

THE  boat,  creeping  along  the  water  with  a  spark  of  light  to 
the  rise  of  the  oars  on  either  hand  of  her  flashing  out  as 
regularly  as  a  revolving  lantern,  regained  the  brig,  and  in  a  few 
moments  the  little  fabric  mounted  jerkingly  to  the  davits  ;  then 
round  swung  the  topsail-yard,  the  royals  mounted  slowly  to  a 
taut  leech,  staysails  were  run  aloft,  and  as  the  brig  gathered 
way  she  fell  off  a  point  or  two  with  her  head  to  the  east  of  south, 
the  sea  opening  beyond  her  to  the  clear  horizon,  that  just  past 
the  vessel's  stern  ran  with  a  sort  of  seething  of  its  blue  into  the 
hot  and  tingling  glory  that  came  in  a  blinding  shiver  from  the 
edge  of  the  ocean  there  to  the  very  feathering  of  the  surf  upon 
the  southward-facing  beach  of  the  island. 

We  watched  the  vessel  receding  from  us  in  silence  j  fathom 
by  fathom  she  crept  seawards,  with  her  canvas  trembling  amid 
the  swimming  sultriness  of  the  atmosphere,  and  a  short  polished 
tape  as  of  shot  satin  dragging  in  tow  of  her  rudder. 

Distance  makes  her  beautiful,'  exclaimed  Miss  Grant, '  but 
she  has  proved  a  most  ugly  ship  to  us.' 

'  What  do  they  mean  to  ao  with  her,  I  wonder  t '  said  I,  watch- 
ing the  flickering  of  her  high  sails  as  she  drew  along  a  slope  of 
the  shore  whose  shoulder  would  in  a  moment  or  two  conceal  her. 

*  What  do  you  suppose  t '  she  asked. 

'As  they  nave  two  good  boats,'  said  I,  'they  will  probably 
scuttle  the  vessel  when  within  convenient  reach  of  some  habit- 
able place.  It  is  clear  that  they  know  their  whereabouts ;  and 
as  Mole  can  use  the  log-line,  the  chart  will  give  him  the  rest  of 
the  information  he  needs.  They'll  arrive  ashore,  or  be  picked 
up  as  shipwrecked  mariners,  earn  a  deal  of  pity,  pocket  some 
dollars  in  addition  to  what  they  may  plunder  from  Broadwater's 


WE  VIEW  THE  ISLAND  191 

And  the  mate's  cabins,  then  scatter,  and  never  more  be  heard  of. 
There  1  She  has  vanished  ! '  I  cried,  rising. 

I  turned  to  survey  the  island.  It  was  partly  coarse,  thick 
guinea  grass,  and  partly  soft,  glittering,  dusty  sand  where  we 
were,  with  a  group  of  trees  winding  to  the  place  to  which 
the  sailor  had  dragged  our  luggage  out  of  a  line  of  palms 
marshalled  for  the  space  of  a  couple  of  hundred  steps  along  the 
shore  of  the  creek,  with  others  opposite,  both  bending  their 
ostrich-like  plumes  to  a  combining  of  their  boughs  that  formed 
a  little  cool  green  tunnel  under  which  the  bright  shoaling  water 
ran  darkling,  though  it  sparkled  out  green  as  emerald  in  the 
opening  beyond,  with  a  rounding  at  the  extremity  like  the  end 
of  a  thumb,  where  the  white  sand  came  down  to  it.  The  land 
went  in  a  slight  rise  to  a  grove  of  trees  that  was  almost  a  little 
forest  in  its  way,  with  a  twilight  amid  the  greenery,  spiked  by 
hazy  beams  of  sunshine  striking  down  any  opening  the  light  could 
shoot  through.  Here  and  ^here  a  great  red  toadstool  showed 
like  a  small  scarlet  shield  in  the  herbage.  There  was  a  clump 
of  cocoa-nut  trees  standing  isolated  to  the  left  of  the  grove. 
The  white  and  flowing-like  streams  of  quicksilver  wound  in 
paths  through  the  grass  in  all  directions,  and  made  one  wonder 
that  the  tropical  vegetation  one  saw  could  take  root  and  find 
nurture  in  such  soil.  _  The  air,  blowing  softly  from  the  south- 
west, was  tremulous  with  the  humming  of  many  kinds  of  insects, 
and  sweet  with  indefinable  perfumes  as  of  convolvuli  and  the 
passion-flower — a  commingling  of  nameless  aromas.  I  watched 
a  frigate-bird  come  out  from  tne  mere  black  spot  he  made  sea- 
wards, and  glance  like  an  arrow  without  stir  of  its  wide  and 
graceful  pinions  to  some  haunt  of  its  own  past  the  little  inland 
forest.  In  places  close  beside  us  the  long  grass  stirred,  as  though 
there  were  human  fingers  beneath,  to  the  movement  of  a  lizard 
perhaps  green  as  a  bottle,  with  eyes  like  rubies,  and  a  flickering 
fork  of  tongue  as  if  it  was  breathing  fire  ;  or  maybe  some  dingy 
thing  that  might  have  been  a  land-crab  could  be  made  out  creep- 
ing for  a  space  through  the  fibres  of  the  grass,  and  then  falling 
motionless  as  though,  mole-like,  it  had  sunk  deep  out  of  sight. 

'I  hope  there  is  nothing  poisonous  in  the  way  of  snakes 
hereabouts,'  said  I,  pulling  out  a  stout  stick  from  one  of  the 
bundles  that  lay  strapped  near  a  portmanteau,  and  very  warily 
I  strode  into  the  thick  of  the  herbage,  beating  right  and  left, 
keeping  a  bright  look-out,  and  listening  intently.  I  started 
nothing  but  a  lizard  or  two,  and  one  of  those  half-lobsters 
called  soldiers,  and  a  vast  spider  with  a  body  as  big  as  a  crown- 
piece,  magnificently  marked  like  the  leopard,  with  the  hues  so 
brilliant  and  shining  that  it  was  as  good  as  beholding  some 
marvellously- wrou glit  mechanism  glorious  with  jewels  to  watch 
the  scamper  of  the  thing  with  its  long  legs  over  the  heads  of 
the  spears  of  grass  that  bent  to  its  weiglit.  I  returned,  and 
opening  my  portmanteau,  pulled  out  the  pistols  which  lay  there 
loaded,  and  thrust  them  into  my  pockets. 


192  MAftOONED 

'I'll  go  and  take  a  view  of  the  scene,'  said  I ;  'there  may  bo 
land  in  sight  away  west  from  the  tallest  of  those  hummocks. 
This  island  must  form  one  of  the  Bahama  group  certainly,  and 
if  so,  others  cannot  be  very  remote,  though  hidden  from  this 
elevation.  Will  you  remain  here  until  I  return  ? ' 

'No,  I  will  accompany  you,'  she  answered:  '^there's  nothing 
to  be  afraid  of,  yet  I  do  not  like  the  idea  of  being  alone.'  She 
sent  a  swift  glance  round  her  with  a  faint  smile  that  was  like 
asking  forgiveness  for  this  little  show  of  weakness. 

The  length  of  her  dress  made  me  feel  a  trifle  uneasy.  It  was 
impossible  to  know  what  small  murderous  fangs  lay  hidden 
among  the  long  coarse  grass  that  showed  yellow  and  bald  in 
places  to  the  roasting  eye  of  the  sun.  The  folds  of  her  gown 
formed  such  a  flowing  drapery  that  the  skirts  of  it  trailed  a 
foot  or  two  in  her  wak&— -a  regular  net  for  the  ensnaring  of 
anything  venomous  or  distracting.  Let  her  courage  be  what 
it  would,  methought  if  she  should  hook  up  such  a  spider  as  the 
chap  I  had  just  put  to  flight,  it  might  go  hard  with  us  botli.  It 
was  no  time  for  ceremony.  It  is  simply  impossible  for  a  man 
to  be  marooned  with  a  girl  without  the  vessel  that  makes  cast- 
aways of  them  carrying  off  a  mass  of  the  superfluous  decorums 
which  on  shipboard  kept  them  at  arm's-length.^ 

'  Miss  Grant,'  said  L   excuse  me — your  dress  is  too  long.' 

She  gathered  the  folds  of  it  in  her  hand,  and  said  simply, 
*  Yes,  much  too  long ;'  then  going  to  one  of  her  trunks  she  pro- 
duced, after  some  fumbling — a  pincushion  ! — (to  think,  now,  of 
a  pincushion  on  an  uninhabited  island !) — and  handing  it  to  me, 
bade  me  help  pin  her  dress  up  for  her.  It  was  a  task  in  its  way 
to  reconcile  one  almost  to  being  marooned — for  the  moment,  at 
least.  I  don't  think  I  had  known  how  perilously  emotional 
this  woman  had  made  me  at  heart  in  all  thoughts  that  had 
reference  to  her,  until  I  put  my  hand  to  the  sweet  and  careless 
intimacy  of  this  pinning  job.  It  was  a  sort  of  haunting  of  her 
closest  presence  whilst  it  lasted,  like  bending  the  face  to  a 
flower  that  one  has  long  been  able  to  admire  with  the  eye  only. 
Sue  watched  me  with  a  half -smile  as  I  stooped  round  her,  whilst 
I  trimmed  her  canvas  suitably  to  the  best  of  my  judgment  for 
our  adventure :  with  an  air  of  unaffected  indifference  touched 
but  very  subtly  with  the  most  delicate  imaginable  spirit  of 
coquetry.  It  was  more  like  a  flirting  passage,  indeed,  in  some 
merry  picnicking  jaunt — as  though  we  two  had  strolled  from 
the  rest  of  the  people,  and  I  was  clumsily  trying  to  make  good 
the  dilapidations  following  an  airy  frolic — than  a  detail  of  one 
of  the  grimmest  of  all  ocean  incidents.  She  again  explored  the 
box  she  had  recently  rummaged,  and  took  from  it  the  silver- 
mounted  pistol  which  she  had  shown  to  me  on  board  the  brig, 
and  after  deliberating  a  minute  or  two,  thrust  the  barrel  into 
the  bosom  of  her  dress. 

'I  will  carry  it  for  you,'  said  I,  with  a  small  recoil  from  the 
recklessneu  with  which  she  had  elided  the  loaded  weapon 


WE  VIEW  THE 'ISLAND  193 

aslant  her  beautiful  figure^  •"  'Should  you  stumbl»— let  me  hold 
it  for  you.' 

She  withdrew  it,  saying, '  I  must  be  armed  as  well  as  you.  I 
shall  know  how  to  carry  it.'  With  that  she  opened  another 
trunk,  and  after  a  brief  hunt  drew  forth  a  dainty  leathern  belt 
of  South  American  make  and  fashion,  into  which,  after  clasping 
it  loosely  round  her,  she  stuck  the  pistol,  where  it  lay  safe 
enough,  and  ready  to  her  hand  besides ;  and  then  equipping 
ourselves  with  a  cotton  umbrella  apiece,  we  started  for  the 
green  hummock  that  rose  at  about  half  a  mile  inland,  taking 
a  bit  of  a  circuit  to  the  left  so  as  to  go  clear  of  the  trees,  into 
whose  cathedral-like  dimness  it  was  difficult  to  peer  without 
uncomfortable  fancies  of  savage  things — imaginations  of  bright 
hungry  eyes  glistening  between  some  mighty  spikes  of  aloes  • 
the  small  head  of  a  serpent  half-way  up  a  tree,  with  fold 
swelling  upon  fold  of  spotted,  bloated  skin,  rising  corkscrew- 
fashion  to  the  green  intricacies  atop — all  helped,  as  such  notions 
would  be,  by  the  novel  tropical  smell  of  flower  and  gum  in  the 
wind,  and  the  innumerable  murmur  of  flies  and  insects 
skirring  across  the  sight  on  wings  of  translucent  pearl,  and 
the  melancholy,  unmusical  pipings  of  birds,  one  wailing  to 
another  and  waiting  for  the  answer,  as  it  seemed. 

We  stepped  along  very  cautiously,  Miss  Grant  looking  down 
for  the  most  part,  and  I  round  about.  The  greenery  soothed 
the  eye,  but  there  was  a  savageness  put  into  everything  you 
saw  by  the  loneliness  of  the  place  that  weighed  perilously 
upon  the  spirits.  For  my  part,  I  felt  as  though  the  sand  we 
trod  had  never  before  received  the  impress  of  a  human  foot, 
and  there  were  moments  during  that  walk  when  the  helpless- 
ness and  hopelessness  of  our  condition  affected  me  so  violently 
that  I  could  scarce  draw  'a  breath,  and  I  had  to  call  a  halt, 
feigning,  with  my  hand  to  my  brow,  that  I  had  paused  only  to 
obtain  a  better  view  of  the  island. 

From  the  summit  of  the  hummock  we  could  see  all  around  us. 
The  sea  went  in  a  brilliant  blue  slope  to  the  sky,  the  great  dome 
of  which,  brassy  with  the  glory  of  the  sun  that  was  but  a  little 
past  the  meridian,  set  you  thinking  of  some  mighty,  brightly- 
burnished  copper  bell  charged  with  fiery  splendour  shutting  down 
over  you,  with  this  green  spot  of  earth  parching  in  the  midst  of 
it  to  the  roasting  metallic  glare.  A  little  leaning  shaft  of  white, 
with  an  ice-like  gleam  upon  it,  broke  the  continuity  of  the 
southern  seaboard.  It  was  the  canvas  of  the  brig.  From  her 
right  round  to  back  again  to  her  the  clear  horizon  ran  without 
a  flaw.  If  land  were  visible  from  the  cross-trees  of  the  Iron 
Crown,  it  was  concealed  from  us  here.  The  little  forest  betwixt 
us  and  the  creek  hid  the  foreshore  of  the  island  past  it ;  but  one 
knew  how  it  would  be  there  by  how  it  was  wherever  else  the 
eye  turned.  The  surf  rimmed  the  white  sands  with  three  or  four 
lines  of  flashing  snow,  which  seemed  to  melt  into  the  coral  beach 
like  liquid  light,  and  the  seething  of  it  tell  as  delicately  upon 


194  MAROONED 

the  ear  as  the  hissing  of  champagne  in  a  glass  poised  to  tha 
ftps. 

'It  is  all  clear  sea  apparently/  said  1^  'the  blue  seems  to  me 
to  spread  everywhere  the  same.  There  is  some  chance  for  us  in 
that,  for  in  such  soundings  there  can  be  no  danger  to  navigation, 
and  a  vessel  may  heave  close  enough  into  view  to  perceive  our 
signals  at  any  hour.' 

'  We  should  have  some  signals  ready,'  said  Miss  Grant. 

'  Nothing  to  catch  the  eye  like  smoke,'  said  I ; '  I  will  build  a 
big  bonfire  up  here  this  afternoon,  ready  to  make  a  blaze  when 
the  time  comes.' 

'  The  island  is  certainly  uninhabited,'  she  said,  exploring  it 
with  her  dark  eyes.  '  It  is  hard  to  imagine  that  it  has  ever  been 
discovered;  but  it  is  best  as  it  is,  Mr.  Musgrave.  Surely  the 
very  worst  shipwrecks  are  those  in  which  sailors  and  passengers 
have  been  thrown  amongst  savages.' 

'  It  is  blisteringly  hot  up  here,'  said  I,  '  let  us  return  to  the 
cool  of  the  trees.  A  moment  though  !  You  have  a  keen  sight. 
Can  you  distinguish  anywhere  upon  this  island  the  least  gleam 
of  water  ? ' 

She  searched  slowly  and  narrowly,  as  did  I  for  the  matter  of 
that.  Again  and  again  I  was  deceived  by  some  thin  sinuous 
streak  of  sand  that  had  the  very  sheen  of  a  limpid  stream  in  the 
dazzle  of  it,  as  it  seemed  to  creep  like  some  little  brook  amid  the 
herbage  of  the  denser  growths ;  but  my  eye  could  regularly 
follow  it  to  broader  tracks  which  were  unmistakably  sand  to 
the  sight :  and  I  was  about  to  give  up,  when  Miss  Grant,  who 
had  been  looking  steadfastly  in  one  direction  for  some  minutes, 
said,  '  That  must  be  a  little  waterfall  yonder.  Mr.  Musgrave  : 
look  past  the  curve  there,  over  the  head  of  that  clump  or 
bushes.' 

She  pointed  to  the  foot  of  the  slope  of  another  hummock, 
lower  arid  smaller  than  the  one  on  whose  brow  we  stood,  and  in 
a  breath  I  caught  the  sparkle  of  a  waterfall  shivering  like 
splinters  of  bright  steel  against  the  green  edge  of  the  rise,  and 
amidst  the  interlacery  of  the  bush  whose  density  a  little  lower 
down  hid  it.  If  it  were  fresh  water  it  was  of  the  first  consequence 
in  the  world  to  us,  and  without  another  word  we  started  for  it. 
It  proved  as  thirsty,  bubbling,  and  murmuring  a  brook  as  ever 
lipped  glass-like  to  an  English  river.  Its  source  was  some 
distance  away  ;  it  flowed  freshly  in  a  channel  of  its  own,  fret- 
ting to  the  spot  at  which  we  had  arrived,  when  it  sulked  again 
in  a  wide  pool,  passing  on  afresh  in  a  mimic  torrent,  narrowing 
for  a  space  till  its  volume  made  a  foam  of  it,  then  running  clear 
under  the  sky  for  twenty  fathoms,  after  which  it  pierced  the 
herbage  and  vanished  amidst  the  trees.  I  scooped  up  some  with 
my  hand  and  tasted  it.  New  milk  was  never  sweeter.  I  had  a 
brandy-flask  in  my  pocket,  and  with  the  help  of  the  silver  cup 
attached  to  it  we  drank  our  fill  of  this  delicious  water.  No  wine 
was  ever  so  well  tasted ;  it  was  ice-cold  too,  and  of  so  diamond- 


WE  VIEW  THE  ISLAND  195 

Kke  a  clearness,  that  but  for  the  whispers  of  it  as  it  ran,  and 
the  hue  of  the  blue  sky  in  it,  it  would  have  been  as  invisible  as 
water  in  a  crystal  vase.  Short  of  the  appearance  of  a  ship 
promising  deliverance  to  us,  nothing,  I  am  persuaded,  could  have 
so  helped  my  spirits  as  the  discovery  of  this  fresh  water.  There 
was  thirst  in  the  dry  and  blinding  sparkling  of  the  sand  ;  there 
was  thirst  in  the  aspect  of  the  tracks  of  rusty  yellow  herbage 
which  dashed  the  vegetation  with  their  sickly  tint  like  gangrenes 
spreading  even  to  the  gaze  of  the  eye ;  there  was  thirst  in  the  hot 
air  that  everywhere  trembled  like  the  atmosphere  over  a  flame, 
until  in  places  the  horizon  waved  as  though  a  high  swell  were 
running  out  there,  and  the  slender  trunks  of  the  cocoa-nut  trees 
Wound  upon  the  sight  with  the  movement  of  an  archimedean 
screw  slowly  revolving.  Here  then  were  inspirations  to  make 
the  discovery  of  this  brook  of  running  waters  a  positive  rapture 
in  its  way.  Suppose  it  had  no  existence,  I  thought ;  what  should 
we  have  done  ?  The  beakers  the  men  had  dispatched  us  witli 
held  but  a  few  gallons.  Rain-water  might  have  been  found  per- 
haps by  digging  in  the  sand,  but  I  had  my  doubts  of  that  when  I 
came  to  look  at  the  dust  of  the  milk-white  foreshore.  The  mere 
fancy  of  our  condition  without  this  brook — the  central  roasting 
Eye  sending  an  atmosphere  of  brass  flowing  to  the  furthest 
confines — the  thirsty,  salt  noise  of  the  surf — (you  could  hear  the 
saltness  of  it  in  the  seethe  of  each  little  recoiling  breaker) — was 
almost  enough  to  make  one  keep  one's  hot  lips  steeped  in  the 
crystal  coolness  and  sweetness  of  the  prattling  stream. 

But  my  heart  fell  again  as  we  walked  slowly  towards  the  spot 
where  our  luggage  was.  Indeed,  the  mere  sight  of  these  details 
of  civilization — portmanteaux,  trunks  of  the  latest  fashion,  rugs, 
camp-stools,  walking-sticks,  the  twenty  odds  and  ends  which 
had  gone  to  our  equipment — made  such  a  contrast  of  the 
inhospitable  desolation  of  the  spot  of  land  on  which  we  were 
imprisoned,  that  the  stoutest  spirit  must  have  yielded,  I  think,  to 
a  feeling  of  hopelessness.  How  were  we  to  obtain  a  shelter  for 
the  night  ?  When  our  slender  store  of  provisions  gave  out,  where 
were  we  to  look  for  a  further  stock*  Again,  unless  we  were 
taken  off  by  some  passing  ship,  what  was  our  chance  of  escape? 
There  was  no  lack  of  wood  on  the  island,  and  with  tools  I 
might  have  contrived  to  put^  together  some  sort  of  log-fabric  on 
which,  under  Heaven,  we  might  have  made  shift  to  blow  away 
to  within  reach  of  succour,  whether  of  land  or  of  ship ;  but 
without  chopper  or  saw,  yonder  grove  was  of  no  more  use  to  us 
than  a  handful  of  the  white  sand  by  the  creek  there.  However, 
it  was  a  little  soon  for  lamentation,  though  on  such  an  occasion 
as  this  a  man's  groans  would  be  deepest  when  his  experiences 
were  freshest. 

'  It  is  about  time  we  broke  our  fast,'  said  I ; '  perhaps  we  should 
feel  faint  had  we  nothing  to  think  about  but  our  appetites. 
The  men  were  merciful  to  send  our  luggage  ashore  with  us. 
Those  camp-stools  of  yours  are  worth  a  million.' 

o  2 


196  MAROONED 

I  opened  one  of  the  cases  containing  our  provisions,  and 
prepared  a  meal  of  preserved  meat  and  biscuit,  along  with  the 
remainder  of  a  bottle  of  Madeira,  The  camp-stools  made  us 
seats,  and  our  table  was  the  lid  of  a  trunk.  Of  all  the  passages 
of  this  particular  nautical  experience  of  my  life,  our  first  meal 
on  this  little  nameless  island  recurs  to  me  the  most  vividly.  I 
think  I  hear  now  the  hum  of  the  sultry  sea-breeze  amia  the 
boughs  overhead,  rendered  refreshing  to  the  ear  by  the  metallic- 
like  rustling  of  leaves,  yet  always  blowing  vibratory  with  the 
innumerable  buzzings  of  flies  and  insects.  I  see  again  the  green 
lizard,  scarcely  distinguishable  from  the  foliage  amongst  which 
he  lurked,  viewing  us  with  brilliant  eyes  from  some  limb  on 
high.  Occasionally  there  would  come  a  harsh,  short  scream 
from  a  paroquet,  and  a  flash  of  lustrous  plumage  from  one 
verdant  shadow  to  another,  like  a  fragment  of  rainbow  borne 
along  by  the  wind,  accompanied  by  the  sharp  rushing  skirr  of 
beating  pinions.  The  sunshine  was  alive  with  the  glancing 
forms  of  coloured  things — now  a  great  dragon-fly,  a  golden 
shaft  propelled  by  wings  of  gossamer — now  a  butterfly  of 
glorious  hue — now  some  tiny  red-breasted  bird,  a  sort  of  wood- 
pecker, maybe,  for  I  noticed  that  a  drumming  as  of  bills  would 
spring  up  out  of  the  quarter  in  which  the  streak  of  radiant 
feathers  had  vanished.  Had  all  been  well  with  us,  good  beds  to 
look  forward  to  at  night,  with  even  such  necessaries  to  support 
us  as  a  back  wood  settlement  might  supply,  why,  this  little  island, 
with  my  beautiful  and  courageous  companion  to  talk  to  and 
have  by  my  side,  would  have  been  something — say  even  for  a 
fortnight — to  have  entered  into  the  realities  of  life  as  a  sort  of 
paradisiacal  dream,  a  fancy  for  whose  brief  fulfilment  under 
happy  conditions  I  would  barter  a  dozen  years  of  the  delights 
of  the  gayest  and  most  showy  cities  of  Eui-ope.  But  'twas  sheer 
nightmare  and  nothing  more,  spite  of  the  waving  verdure  of 
the  savanna,  of  the  glitter  of  the  tropic  bird,  of  flowers  lovely 
as  the  constellations  of  the  midnight  of  the  Antilles,  of  the  rain- 
like  pattering  of  the  leaves  of  the  palm-tree,  of  odours  as  of  the 
lime  and  the  citron,  when  one  sent  one's  gaze  seawards,  and  felt 
the  whole  solitude  of  the  mighty  deep  melting  through  and 
through  into  one  in  a  kind  of  swoon,  as  it  seemed,  of  the  very 
soul 

However,  we  ate  and  drank,  and  were  the  better  for  it.  I 
lighted  a  cheroot,  and  fell  a-thinking  with  my  eyes  on  Miss  Grant. 
She  was  equally  thoughtful,  with  a  far-away  expression  in  her 
face. 

*  There  are  nervous  folks,'  said  I, '  who  would  not  accept  the 
gift  of  looking  ahead  even  for  a  fortnight  if  they  could  make 
their  fortunes  through  it.  Throw  me  back  a  couple  of  months 
ago  into  Piccadilly,  with  leave  to  peer  far  enough  to  divine  old 
Broadwater's  nature,  and  to  guess  at  the  issues  it  must  shape, 
and  we  should  not  be  here.' 

'It  is  all  my  fault.'  said  she. 


WE  VIEW  THE  ISLAND  197 

'Mine!'  I  exclaimed.  'I  should  have  insisted  on  being  put 
ashore  with  you  in  the  English  Channel.' 

'I  mean  it  ia  my  fault  that  you  ever  made  the  voyage,'  said 
she. 

'You  would  not  wish  to  be  alone  though  ?'  said  I,  smiling. 

She  shook  her  head  with  an  unaffected  shudder. 

'What  conclusions  will  Alexander  arrive  at,'  said  I,  'when 
day  after  day  goes  by,  and  no  Iron  Grown  arrives  at  Rio  ?' 

I  don't  like  to  think  of  it,'  she  answered  ;  'but  he  will  have  to 
be  patient.  He  must  wait  as  /  must  wait.' 

'Pity  it  is  not  the  other  way  about,'  said  L  'He  ought  to  be 
here,  and  you  safe  at  Bio.' 

"She  looked  at  me  quickly,  with  a  half -formed  fancy,  as  it 
seemed,  hovering  on  ner  lips,  parted  as  if  to  speak,  faintly 
coloured,  and  plucking  a  blade  of  the  coarse  grass  at  her  side, 
appeared  to  study  the  texture  of  it. 

'Alexander  will  conclude  that  the  brig  has  gone  down  with 
all  hands,'  I  continued.  '  The  men  are  sure  to  scuttle  her,  and  as 
they  know  if  rescued  they  will  have  to  account  for  us  and  the 
two  men  they  have  made  away  with — Broadwater  and  Bothwell 
I  mean — it  is  odds  if  they  don  t  invent  the  name  of  the  ship  they 
profess  to  have  belonged  to,  so  that  the  truth  will  never  reach 
my  cousin  until  we  carry  the  news  ourselves  to  him.' 

'  Poor  boy  !  his  anxiety  will  be  crueL  But  perhaps  we  shall 
be  with  him  sooner  than  we  expect.' 

'  I  hope  so,  indeed,  for  your  sake,'  said  I,  with  a  lift  of  my 
brows  to  the  tormenting  puzzlement  of  how  it  was  to  be  done. 
'  But  sufficient  unto  the  day,  Miss  Grant.  Here  are  we  marooned, 
and  what's  next  to  do  ?  that's  the  question.  No  chance  of  our 
being  taken  off  this  afternoon,  nor  of  our  escaping  in  any  other 
way.  The  night  then  is  before  us,  and  we  must  provide  for  it.  I 
have  no  means  of  erecting  any  sort  of  shelter,  and  the  island 
offers  nothing.  For  my  part,  one  of  those  rugs  and  a  stretch  of 
that  dry  sand  will  make  me  as  good  a  couch  as  I  need,  spite  of 
the  land-crab  and  whatever  else  crawls  hereabouts  at  night. 
But  the  notion  of  your  lying  on  the  cold  ground  is  intolerable 
to  me,'  said  I,  turning  my  eyes  about  in  vain  search  of  any  hint 
for  a  high  and  dry  bed  for  her  in  tree  or  slope. 

'  I  have  a  net-hammock  in  one  of  those  boxes,'  she  exclaimed, 
'  unhappily  only  one.  If  you ' 

'  /  /  Lord  love  you,  Miss  Grant !  Why,  if  it  were  not  for  the 
lizards  aloft,  I'd  seize  myself  to  a  bough,  make  a  bed  of  one  of 
those  leafy  forks  up  there,  as  Robinson  Crusoe  did.  But  there 
may  be  monkeys  in  this  island  for  aught  I  know,  and  on  the 
whole  I  fancy  a  sand-mattress  promises  me  a  quieter  couch  than 
a  tree.  If  you  can  find  the  hammock,  we  will  turn  to  and  rig  it 
up  in  as  snug  a  place  as  we  can  light  on.' 

She  immediately  explored  one  of  her  boxes,  and  presently 
found  the  hammock.  It  was  formed  of  net,  but  very  strong, 
fchpugh  so  portable  that  one  could  have  stowed  it  away  in  one's 


193  MAROONED 

hat,  with  ship-shape  clews  and  eyes  and  lengths  of  laniard  ready 
spliced  for  lashings.  This,  it  seems,  like  her  pistoL  her  belt,  and 
divers  other  matters,  had  been  one  of  her  Rio  possessions.  It 
was  an  odd  thing  to  carry  home  from  South  America  to  the  Eng- 
lish climate  ;  but  it  was  an  old  home  relic,  she  told  me,  in  which 
she  had  passed  many  a  long  slumberous  hour  under  the  scented 
and  myriad-voiced  shade  of  the  cotton-trees,  of  the  gleaming 
leaves  of  the  star-apple,  and  the  slender  branches  bending  to  the 
weight  of  the  golden  shaddock.  Besides,  she  knew  little  of  Great 
Britain,  and  might  have  believed  that  the  sun  was  as  constant  to 
the  garden  plains  and  smoking  cities  of  the  greatest  maritime 
nation  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  as  it  was  to  the  country  in 
which  she  had  been  bred.  But  a  spell  of  the  Edgeware  Road 
would  suffice  to  correct  even  odder  fancies  than  that. 

I  swung  the  hammock  between  two  trees  which  exactly 
fitted  the  length  of  it.  They  stood  somewhat  forward  from 
the  group  where  our  boxes  were,  with  a  tract  of  white  sand 
hard  by,  which  I  had  resolved  should  furnish  me  with  a  bed  that 
night;  so  that  she  would  swing  close  over  me,  and  be  as  free 
likewise  as  one  could  possibly  contrive  it,  from  all  risks  of  visits 
during  the  dark  hours  from  the  lizards  and  tree-toads  in  which 
I  reckoned  this  island  abounded.  I  formed  a  mattress  and 
pillow  for  her  of  shawls  and  rugs,  and  learning  that  she  had 
some  mosquito-curtains  in  her  boxes,  I  borrowed  a  roll  of  white 
tape  from  her,  wanting  a  better  kind  of  line,  and  made  a  ridge- 
rope  of  it  along  her  hammock,  with  a  couple  of  pieces  of  wood 
cut  from  the  bough  of  a  tree  to  serve  as  stanchions,  that  the 
ends  of  the  curtain  might  float  fair  past  the  clews,  and  so 
protect  her  at  both  ends. 

'Perhaps  there  are  no  mosquitoes,'  said  she,  watching  me 
as  I  worked. 

'  I  hope  not,'  said  I,  doubtfully ;  '  anyhow  I  shall  borrow  one 
of  your  curtains,  and  roll  myself  up  in  it  when  the  time  comes. 
Unless  my  system  has  undergone  a  change  since  I  was  at 
Bombay,  a  mosquito-bite  with  me  signifies  a  lump  rather  larger 
than  a  crow's  egg,  and  as  red  as  Broadwater's  nose.' 

'  We  have  plenty  of  them  at  Eio,'  said  she, '  but  they  never 
tease  me.  Though  the  species  may  be  different  here,'  she  added, 
with  a  glance  at  the  contrivance  I  had  rigged  up,  which  made 
me  fancy  that,  bad  as  our  melancholy  and  dreadful  situation 
was.  there  would  be  nothing  in  it  to  hinder  her  from  objecting 
to  the  defacement  of  her  fair  face  by  the  singing  pests  of  these 
rich  and  sparkling  parallels. 

I  now  found  that  occupation  of  any  kind  was  helpful  to  my 
spirits,  and  thereupon  pulling  off  my  coat  and  waistcoat,  and 
baring  my  arms,  I  went  to  work  with  a  tolerably  stout  knife  I 
happened  to  have  in  my  pocket — one  of  those  useful  combina- 
tions of  corkscrew,  gimlet  finger-long  saw,  and  the  like — to 
cut  as  much  dried  stuff  as  I  could  make  shift  to  deal  with  ;  of 
which  I  manufactured  faggots  by  securing  them  with  ligatures 


WE  VIEW  THE  ISLAND  109 

of  grass  strong  enough  to  knot.  Miss  Grant  insisted  on  helping 
me.  She  had  replaced  the  somewhat  small-brimmed  hat  she  had 
come  ashore  in  with  a  great  yellow  sombrero-fashioned  head- 
covering  that  sheltered  her  like  an  umbrella,  and  I  see  her  now 
bending  her  graceful  figure  to  the  faggot  at  her  feet,  her  white 
hands,  with  a  flashing  ring  or  two  upon  them,  nimbly  and 
swiftly  knotting  the  grass  bindings,  lifting  her  face  occasionally 
to  address  me,  with  her  dark  eyes  the  brighter,  her  teeth  the 
whiter,  her  complexion  the  fairer,  for  the  softness  of  the  shadow 
which  lay  upon  her  beauty.  We  manufactured  a  great  number 
of  these  faggots,  and  conveyed  the  whole  of  them  between  us  in 
several  journeys  to  the  summit  of  the  hummock,  where  we  built 
"them  up  in  a  goodly  pile,  taking  care  to  fence  them  about,  that 
they  should  not  be  blown  away  by  a  sudden  squall  or  rising  of 
wind,  and  further  protecting  the  whole  by  a  thick  cover  of  live 
branches,  densely  leaved,  which  would  also  thicken  the  smoke 
whenever  the  time  came  for  us  to  set  fire  to  the  heap.  The 
great  heat  made  this  labour  very  arduous,  but  though  its  com- 

Eletion  left  us  both  wearied,  it  was  a  thing  to  be  done,  and  we 
3lt  the  easier  in  our  minds  when  it  was  finished.  It  was 
impossible  to  know  but  that  at  any  hour  we  might  happen  to 
look  seawards  and  spy  a  vessel  slipping  fleetly  past,  too  far  off 
to  witness  any  waving  signal  of  shawl  or  handkerchief,  but  well 
within  view  of  such  a  volume  of  smoke  as  our  body  of  faggots 
would  make. 

We  paused  a  moment  on  the  brow  of  the  little  elevation,  before 
returning  from  our  last  excursion  to  the  hummock,  to  take  a 
long  look  round.  The  sun  was  sinking  in  the  cloudless  western 
heavens ;  he  was  a  great  shield  of  fast  reddening  fire, -and  the 
placid  purple  ocean  beneath  him  seemed  to  rise  with  a  rounding 
of  its  polished  bosom  to  the  huge  luminary,  as  though  he  was 
some  mighty  magnet  up  there  drawing  it.  One  could  not  look 
a  moment,  without  a  weeping  of  the  sight,  into  the  blinding 
ardency  ot  the  western  atmosphere,  so  charged  was  it  with  the 
ceaseless  gushing  of  the  crimson  glory ;  it  seemed  to  palpitate 
and  contract  and  dilate  like  a  lake  of  liquid  glowing  iron  newly 

Eoured  from  the  heart  of  a  blast-furnace.  But  the  sea  went 
x>m  there  into  a  tender  deepening  of  turquoise  against  the 
orange  reflection  in  which  the  eastern  sky  was  bathed ;  the 
rippling  of  it  was  so  exceedingly  delicate,  that  it  looked  more 
like  the  shimmering  of  light  upon  it  than  the  fine  wrinklings  of 
the  wind  ;  the  thin  edge  of  surf  broke  with  a  tincture  of  lemon 
upon  the  sands,  that  now  shone  golden  to  the  evening  radiance. 
The  air  blew  very  gentle  and  warm.  The  tropic  picture  was 
deepened  to  every  sense  by  the  strange  uncommon  sounds 
rising  from  the  island, — queer  chirpings  and  snorings;  sharp, 
short  cries  from  the  greenery,  like  women's  voices  calling 
hoarsely  ;  brief  melancholy  pipings  making  answer  to  like  notes, 
sad,  low,  and  more  distant.  The  sound  of  the  surf  seethed 
through  this  curious  eoncertv  but  nothing  moved,  look  where 


200  MAROONED 

one  would,  if  it  were  not  the  flash  of  a  bird  /  f  gorgeous  plumage, 
a  stir  of  some  near  tall  spears  of  grass,  or  the  curled  head  of  a 
palm  slightly  swayed  by  the  wind  into  a  beckoning  posture  or 
an  airy  salutation.  There  was  a  (juality  in  the  Light  of  the 
waning  day  that  put  a  melancholy  into  the  spirit  of  the  solitude 
of  this  place  far  beyond  the  reach  of  moonlight  or  the  starry 
darkness  of  the  night.  Fresh  as  we  were  from  days  and  days  of 
the  loneliness  and  immensity  of  the  deep,  yet  there  was  some- 
thing in  the  boundless  aspect  of  the  ocean,  as  we  surveyed  it 
from  the  height  of  that  hummock,  which,  speaking  for  myself, 
shocked  and  scared  one's  instincts  as  though  one  gazed  at  some 
preternatural  revelation  of  sea.  I  saw  Miss  Grant  droop  in  her 
posture,  so  to  speak,  to  the  sight  of  it ;  her  clasped  fingers  hold- 
ing her  hands  before  her  relaxed,  her  arms  fell  to  her  side,  her 
head  sank  as  she  slowly  brought  her  eyes  from  the  flawless 
ocean  to  my  face.  She  breathed  slow  and  deep,  as  one  in  whom 
perception  has  grown  to  the  weight  of  a  burthen  upon  the  heart. 

'Come,'  said  I,  taking  her  gently  by  the  hand,  'there  is  a 
morrow,  and  yet  a  morrow,  before  us.  The  good  God  is  over  all 
besides. 

We  walked  quietly,  but  in  silence,  back  to  the  spot  where  we 
meant  to  pass  the  night. 


CHAPTER  XXTV 

THE  MIDNIGHT  BELL 

THE  clear,  fine,  spangled  dusk  speedily  followed  the  setting  of 
the  sun.  The  night  lay  dark  upon  the  sea  before  we  had 
finished  the  meal  to  which  we  had  sat  down  when  the  hot  crim- 
son of  the  luminary  was  still  flushing  the  heavens  to  the  zenith 
with  a  blood-red  atmosphere,  against  which  the  trees  behind  us 
on  the  west  side  of  the  island  showed  out  black  and  lovely  with 
the  effect  of  the  rich  light  between  the  boughs  and  the  leaves,  as 
though  some  hand  had  studded  every  interstice  with  a  red-hot 
ember.  The  discordant  cry  of  the  parrot  ceased,  the  multi- 
tudinous buzzing  that  had  been  going  on  all  day  came  to  an 
end,  the  melancholy  wailing  wliistlings  that  had  been  answer- 
ing one  another  down  to  sunset  were  hushed  as  if  by  magic  as 
the  last  of  the  brief  twilight  glimmered  off  the  sky.  It  was 
now  the  cricket's  opportunity,  and  from  every  part  of  the 
island  there  rose  up  a  very  storm  of  bell-like  chirruping, 
mingled  with  the  sultry  horns  of  the  sailing  beetles,  odd 
whistlings  and  strange  groanings  coming  from  heaven  knows 
where,  along  with  the  confused  croaking  of  reptiles  and  the 
wild  snoring  call  of  the  tree-toad.  Here  and  there  upon  the 
darkness,  in  small  hovering  constellations,  appeared  a  swarm 
of  fire-flies.  In  places,  these  Lbtle  galaxies  of  yellow-greenisli 
jx>ints  of  light  seemed  to  copihine  with  the  dust  of  tfle  stare 


THE  MIDNIGHT  BELL  201 

beyond  them,  and  the  eye  catching  them  on  a  sudden  would  be 
startled  for  the  moment  by  the  fancy  of  some  astral  dance  up 
there  in  the  dark  blue  obscure,  as  though  a  fragment  of  the 
milky  way  had  parted  from  the  main  body  and  was  making 
a  night  on't ! 

The  sea-breeze  blew  languidly,  cool  with  dew,  and  fragrant 
with  borrowings  from  the  moist  vegetation  it  breathed  over 
as  it  floated  down  to  our  part  of  the  island  from  the  south  and 
east.  The  wash  of  the  light  and  lipping  surf  right  around 
was  as  soft  as  the  voice  of  a  child  ;  the  sea  spread  out  black  as 
ink  from  the  ivory  of  the  beach,  touched  at  wide  intervals  with 
.the  gleam  of  phosphorus  or  the  silver  wire-like  wake,  tremu- 
lously riding  the  ripples,  dropped  by  some  particular  bright 
star.  The  moon  would  be  rising  anon,  and  we  waited  for  her 
coming  j  for  the  dusk,  clear  as  it  was,  rendered  movement 
uninviting  and  even  menacing.  In  fact  it  was  impossible  to 
tell  what  creeping  thing  might  squirm  to  the  tread  in  the 
darkness  that  blackened  nearly  everything  but  the  sand.  We 
had  not,  it  is  true,  observed  the  least  hint  of  snakes  about 
throughout  the  day,  but  if  any  there  were,  the  night  might 
tempt  them  forth  to  walk.  The  puff-adder  loves  to  stalk  in 
gloonij  and  the  rattlesnake's  delight  is  the  forest  shadow.  That 
we  might  not  give  anything  poisonous  a  chance,  we  planted 
our  camp-stools  in  the  centre  of  the  broad  tract  of  sand  that 
tlowed  fan-shaped  to  the  creek  betwixt  the  herbage,  where 
even  to  the  starlight  it  glanced  out  clear  as  a  ship's  deck,  so 
that  anvthing  that  stirred  upon  it  we  should  instantly  perceive. 

Happily  for  me  I  had  a  good  store  of  cheroots  in  my  port- 
manteau. The  fragrance  of  the  tobacco  seemed  to  civilize  the 
island. 

'Even  with  a  companion  by  one's  side,'  said  Miss  Grant, 
speaking  softly,  *  the  loneliness,  now  that  the  dark  has  come,  of 
such  an  ocean  spot  as  this  terribly  oppresses  the  spirit.  But  to 
be  alone — without  hope  of  escape,  without  the  means  perhaps 
of  prolonging  life  beyond  a  little  while — oh,  Mr.  Musgrave,  there 
are  some  forms  of  human  suffering  of  which  the  world  can  never 
know  anything ! ' 

'  I  should  go  mad  if  I  were  left  alone  in  a  place  like  this,  after 
a  bit,'  said  I ;  'imagination  would  prove  too  much  forme.  Even 
when  all's  well  I  find  myself  ill-trimmed  in  that  way.  But  to 
be  alone  here,  without  a  chance,  as  you  say,  of  escaping — I  pro- 
test I  would  not  give  myself  long  to  witness  shapes  as  wild  as 
ever  the  sailors  of  Columbus  dreamt  of,  stalking  out  of  the 
blackness  of  that  grove  yonder;  to  behold  grotesque  forms 
sliding  out  of  the  gloom  of  the  sea  ^into  the  gleam  of  the 
surf  to  have  a  look  at  me ;  to  hear  airy  voices  syllabling  my 
name— ^well,  fancy  does  make  horrid  fools  of  us  certainly  ! 

It  might  have  been  the  chill  of  the  dew  in  the  dark  sea-breeze 
that  blew  with  a  little  moan  past  us  just  then  that  sent  a  chill 
through  me,  but  I  must  own  to  being  possessed  by  a  wild  fit  of 


2n2  MAROONED 

dejection  at  that  moment  also.    It  did  not  linger  j  it  was  like 
one  of  those  giddinesses  which  come  and  go,  but  which  whilst  on 

B>u  make  you  grip  anything  for  support  with  your  eyes  shut, 
oubtless  it  came  to  me  out  of  the  boundless  surface  of  liquid 
blackness  broadening  out  to  the  low  stars.  I  could  not  see  how 
we  were  to  get  away  from  this  island,  and  the  briefest  mental 
look  ahead  shrunk  up  the  very  soul  in  one  to  the  prospect  of 
days  passing  into  weeks,  weeks  into  months,  with  God  knows 
what  in  the  far  end  for  some  newly-arrived  people  tlten  to 
stumble  upon  as  a  memorial  of  nameless  human  suffering. 

Presently  the  moon  arose,  throwing  up  a  delicate  rosy  haze 
first,  then  mounting  into  it  red  as  a  rose,  which  changed  into 
greenish  silver  after  a  brief  climb,  with  an  icy  sparkling  upon 
the  sea-line  just  under  her,  as  though  the  edge  of  the  ocean  there 
were  a  long  single  breaker  arching  over  into  foam. 

'  What  is  that  t '  suddenly  exclaimed  Miss  Grant,  pointing  to 
the  sandy  spit  that  formed  a  shoulder  of  the  creek. 

In  the  gathering  light  of  the  moon  it  might  have  passed  for  a 
circular  mahogany  dining-table  that  had  been  stranded  by  the 
tide,  and  that  having  felt  its  legs  had  started  on  an  excursion 
inland.  I  was  exceedingly  puzzled,  and  as  I  could  now  see  to 
walk,  I  approached  the  black  object  full  of  curiosity  and 
wonder ;  but  it  was  not  till  I  was  witliin  ten  yards  of  it  that  I 
made  it  out  a  vast  turtle,  weighing,  I  dare  say,  four  or  five 
hundred  pounds.  I  knew  very  little  of  the  habits  of  these 
animals,  but  I  had  somewhere  read  that  the  creatures  are  easily 
frightened,  and  so  returning  to  Miss  Grant  I  told  her  quietly 
what  the  thing  was.  '  It  will  have  come  to  lay  its  eggs,  I  dare 
say,'  said  I  ^  '  I  have  often  handled  a  turtle's  egg,  but  never  tasted 
one.  I  believe  they  are  very  good  eating.  Let  the  thing  by  all 
means  contribute  to  our  stock  of  provisions.  Since  there  is  one 
there  will  be  others,  and  if  I  can  manage  to  turn  one  of  them 
over,  I  will ;  though  how  to  get  steaks  and  soups  out  of  her 
I'm  sure  I  don't  know,  unless  we  can  rig  up  some  sort  of  an 
oven  ;  but  even  then  wiiat  are  we  to  boil  the  meat  in  1 ' 

'We  shall  be  very  poor  creatures  indeed,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  said 
she,  '  if  we  cannot  overcome  difficulties  of  that  kind.  The  one 
problem  is  how  to  get  away  from  the  island.  We  cannot  stay 
here,  you  know.' 

The  black  figure  of  the  turtle  crawling  steadfastly  along  the 
sand,  like  some  gignntic  spider  from  which  a  mischievous  boy 
has  cut  off  all  but  a  little  bit  of  its  legs,  slided  behind  the  tall 
grass  and  disappeared,  but  I  marked  which  way  she  went,  for  I 
meant  to  have  her  eggs  if  she  laid  any.  The  moonshine  on  the 
water  was  now  glorious,  and  came  rippling  in  pure  silver  to  the 
very  wash  of  the  surf ;  the  trees  rose  pale,  and  the  foliage 
trembled  to  the  breeze  with  the  sheeny  glitter  of  the  South 
African  silver-leaf.  Our  shadows  lay  black  as  sketches  in  India 
ink  upon  the  coral  sand.  Ou !  there  was  wonder,  there  was 
beauty,  but  there  was  terror  too  in  the  marvellous  gush  of  haze 


THE  MIDNIGHT  BELL  20$ 

which  swept  smoke-like  from  the  bland  planet  eclipsing  the 
stars  in  her  vicinity.  Distance  grew  horribly  infinite  to  it,  and 
the  sense  of  isolation  a  physical  torment. 

*  If  the  ruffians  had  but  spared  us  a  boat ! '  I  cried.  '  We 
could  have  provisioned  and  watered  her  for  days  and  days,  and 
sailed  in  her  too  without  risk  on  yonder  equinoctial  surface. 
There  is  nothing  for  it  but  to  wait,  Miss  Grant.  This  is  a  great 
sea,  steep  to  our  foreshore,  or  I  am  much  mistaken.  The  island 
is  bound  to  be  in  some  kind  of  highway,  and  to-morrow,  pray 
God,  may  give  us  the  sight  of  a  ship.' 

With  this  kind  of  talk  we  killed  some  time.  The  light  of  the 
mounting  moon  was  so  brilliantly  clear  that  I  could  witness 
every  varying  expression  in  my  companion's  face  as  plainly  as 
if  a  shining  dawn  had  broken ;  only  that  the  moonlight  gave  a 
spirituality  to  her  beauty  which  her  charms  were  perhaps 
the  richer  for  not  discovering  by  sunlight.  When  the  time 
arrived  for  me  to  press  her  to  seek  rest,  I  found  her  reluctant. 
And  small  wonder !  It  was  not  that  the  hammock  was  un- 
inviting. Indeed,  nothing  fitter  could  have  been  devised  for 
the  languid,  dewy  warmth  of  such  a  tropical  night  of  pale 
gold-like  splendour  as  this,  than  the  airy  couch  that  spanned 
the  black  pillars  of  the  two  silent  trees.  One  thought  of  what 
was  up  above! — some  scaly  betailed  thing,  creeping  down  the 
dry  bark  with  a  clawing  of  its  armoured  feet  like  the  pattering 
of  a  land-crab  upon  an  uncarpeted  floor,  to  awaken  one  by  a 
cold  pressure  of  its  belly  upon  one's  brow — pah  !  The  tropics  are 
a  glorious  region  to  read  about,  to  be  ^sure ;  but  give  me  an 
English  summer  evening  dying  out — with  the  lowing  of  a  cow 
or  two,  the  chime  of  a  distant  church-bell,  a  drowsy  chirp 
stealing  from  the  shadow  of  some  sweet-blossomed  orchard — 
into  the  delicious  repose  of  night,  unbroken  by  a  note  louder 
than  the  dim  cheep  of  the  grasshopper,  or  the  faint  midnight 
crow  of  an  uneasy  cock.  Why  here,  now,  as  we  sat,  if  we  paused 
in  our  speech  for  a  moment,  the  ear  carried  even  engrossing 
thought  away  to  the  rickety  chorusing  of  the  million  crickets ; 
winged  things  as  prickly  as  a  cork  stuck  over  with  needle-points 
would  sail  into  one's  cheek  with  a  hum  that  was  like  a  little 
trumpet-blast  in  its  way,  so  near  and  sudden  was  the  sound  of 
it ;  the  snore  of  the  tree-toad  too  awakened  an  echo  as  of  an 
innumerable  croaking  of  frogs ;  and  if  ever  this  sultry  and 
unwholesome  concert  sank  a  little,  it  was  only,  as  it  seemed  to 
me,  to  give  one  a  chance  of  catching  more  distinctly  the  thin, 
red-hpt-wire-like  singing  of  a  mosquito  hard  by  the  ear.  The 
fire-flies  were  wonderfully  plentiful.  A  little  cloud  of  them 
hovered  for  nearly  ten  minutes  in  front  of  us,  within  arm's 
reach  almost ;  and  bright  as  the  moonlit  air  was,  they  glittered 
so  sharp  and  clear,  that  I  believe  had  the  night  been  dark  they 
would  have  shed  illumination  enough  to  enable  us  to  have  seen 
each  other's  face  by. 

Finding   Hiss  Grant  reluctant  to  go  to  her  hammock,  I 


204  MAROONED 

proposed  a  little  stroll  along  the  glittering  beach,  and  for  over 
an  hour,  I  think,  did  we  measure^  to  and  fro  some  quarter  of  a 
mile  of  the  sparkling  shore,  pausing  often  to  watch  the  curl  of 
the  little  breaker,  arching  black  against  the  moon  an  instant  ere 
seething  into  foam,  or  to  direct  a  searching  eye  seawards  for  any 
inky  spot  upon  the  tremulous  stream  of  brilliance,  or  any  pallid 
shadow  in  the  deep  blue  obscure  on  either  hand  of  the  showering 
moonlight,  or  to  listen  to  some  few  brief,  flute-like  notes  break- 
ing from  the  inshore  forest,  or  to  mark  a  meteor  of  magnificence 
hurling  westwards  comet-like,  and  leaving  a  white,  steam-coloured 
near  upon  the  sky  long  after  it  had  burst  into  spangles  and 
vanished. 

At  last  she  consented  to  '  turn  in.'  I  dragged  a  trunk  to  the 
hammock  to  enable  her  to  step  to  her  swinging  bed,  and  when 
her  head  was  pillowed  I  made  her  snug  with  a  shawl,  and  then 
enveloped  her  in  the  floating  gauze  of  the  mosquito-net,  through 
which  I  could  see  her  dark  eyes  watching  me.  The  spreading 
branches  of  the  trees  screened  her  from  the  moon,  but  nere  and 
there  a  ray  fell  through,  and  one  white  beam  rested  upon  the 
hammock.  I  doubt  if  any  dream  that  ever  sweetened  man's 
rest  was  more  enchanting  than  the  vision  of  this  girl's  face 
under  the  moonlit,  gauze-like  transparency.  Though  no  vision, 
indeed,  yet  it  affected  me  as  with  the  unreality  of  one.  I  could 
see  a  smile  in  her  eyes  as  I  raised  my  hat  with  a  little  bow,  and 
wished  her  good-night.  One  must  go  to  sea  for  such  experiences 
as  this.  Name  me  such  a  conjuncture  ashore  as  could  produce  it. 
When  I  stole  a  peep  at  her  again,  the  moonbeam  had  slipped  off 
her,  and  the  hammock  was  in  gloom. 

1 1  hope  nothing  will  tease  you  on  the  sand,'  I  heard  her  say. 

'  I  hope  not,'  I  answered,  looking  at  the  branches  overhead  to 
make  sure  that  the  coast  was  clear  up  there. 

I  had  now  to  make  my  own  bed.  The  boxes  were  of  unequal 
height,  or  I  should  have  stowed  them  together  into  a  couch.  I 
stretched  out  a  rug  to  lie  upon,  brought  a  small  carpet-bag  to 
the  head  of  it  to  serve  as  a  pillow,  drew  a  mosquito-curtain  over 
me,  and  lay  down,  pistols  in  pocket  within  ready  grasp,  and 
covered  myself  with  such  another  rug  as  I  rested  on.  The  dry 
sand  yielded  with  a  sort  of  spring  in  it,  and  I  found  it  a  very 
tolerable  mattress.  But  I  lay  extremely  uneasy  in  my  mind, 
however,  for  some  time,  constantly  imagining  that  something 
was  stirring  on  one  side  or  the  other  ot  me.  But  I  was  more 
wearied  than  I  was  sensible  of,  and  presently  felt  a  pleasing 
sense  of  drowsiness  stealing  over  me.  There  was  something  now 
almost  soothing  to  the  ear  in  the  myriad  chirpings  of  the 
crickets,  and  in  the  subdued  soft  creaming  of  the  surf.  Just 
over  my  face  hovered  a  swarm  of  fire-flies,  and  I  watched  them 
sleepily.  The  night  wind  sighing  through  ^the  trees  filled  the 
air  with  a  fountain-like  murmuring  of  rustling  leaves. 

I  was  nearly  asleep  when  I  started,  instantly  broad  awake,  to 
a  peouliar,  melodious,  but  most  melancholy  whistling  of  a  bird 


THE  MIDNIGHT  BELL  205 

amid  the  branches  of  the  tree  to  whose  trunk  the  head  of  Miss 
Grant's  hammock  was  attached.  What  sort^  of  bird  it  was  1 
cannot  say.  Maybe  it  was  one  of  the  species  which  induced 
Columbus  to  believe  that  there  were  nightingales  in  these 
islands,  when  he  sat  hearkening  at  sunset  to  the  gush  ot  melodies 
which  came  floating  out  of  the  foliage  to  mingle  with  the  Salves 
and  Aves  and  the_  litanies  of  his  crew.  The  few  rich  flute-like 
notes  were  plaintive  beyond  expression.  Aroused  as  I  was  from 
my  first  noddings,  it  took  a  little  thinking  to  collect  the  quarter 
whence  the  piping  flowed,  and  what  it  was  that  made  it.  Indeed, 
to  open  one  s  eyes  at  all  upon  the  bright  moonlight,  the  white 
sana,  the  froth  of  surf,  the  ocean  washing  out  black  from  the 
steel-like  sparkling  under  the  luminary,  was  surprise  enough 
after  long  weeks  of  waking  up  to  nothing  but  my  coffee-coloured 
cabin  in  the  Iron  Crown,  specially  when  the  whole  was  blended 
into  a  sort  of  mist-like  dimness  by  the  fold  of  mosquito-curtain 
through  which  I  peered.  Indeed,  if  the  sad  musical  pipings  from 
the  boughs  overhead  had  come  instead  from  some  creamy- 
bosomed  sea-nymph  glimmering  out  white  as  ivory  waist-high 
past  the  foam  that  was  shaling  upon  the  sand,  the  sight  must 
have  occupied  some  little  time  in  filling  me  with  astonishment, 
so  magic  and  unreal  did  the  bird's  awakening  of  me  make  me 
find  the  scene  ;  so  likely  &  theatre  did  the  island  seem  for  the 
wizardry  of  the  deep,  and  so  qualified  was  my  mind  at  the  instant 
for  the  contemplation^ without  wonder,  of  astonishments. 

But  the  song  was  brief,  and  after  a  little  my  mind  came  round 
to  its  old  bearings,  and  being  now  wide  awake,  after  a  glance  at 
the  hammock,  which  I  observed  to  hang  stirless  in  the  gloom,  I 
fell  to  some  practical,  anxious  _  considerations  of  our  condition  ; 
and  the  current  of  thought  being  set  a-flowing  ran  into  twenty 
different  channels.  I  recalled  my  first  meeting  with  Miss  Grant, 
my  instinctive  hesitation  in  undertaking  to  escort  her,  the 
bewilderment  her  beauty  had  raised  in  me,  and  how,  as  I  believed, 
nothing  but  the  tender  unconscious  pleading  of  it  could  have 
triumphed  over  my  reluctance  to  embark  on  this  adventure. 
Then  I  mused  upon  the  tragic  and  distracting  incidents  of  the 
voyage,  and  my  lonely  quarter-deck  walks  with  my  lovely 
companion.  I  dared  not  deny  to  my  own  heart  that  I  was 
already  perilously  fond  of  her.  Indeed,  had  my  reason  been  half 
imbecile  it  must  have  guessed  at  a  growth  of  passion  in  me  by  a 
trick  of  meditating  and  endeavouring  to  interpret  the  meaning 
of  her  behaviour  and  looks  as  I  could  recollect  them  after 
passages  of  conversation  and  prolonged  association.  'Twas  a 
time  for  such  a  reverie  as  this,  believe  me,  with  her  fair  and 
stately  figure  airily  resting  within  hail  of  a  whisper  from  me, 
and  the  sweep  of  the  silent  sea  round  about  closing  as  if  to 
combine  us.  By  Heaven !  I  thought  to  myself,  though  I  know 
my  duty,  yet  should  a  time  ever  come  when  I  must  hand  her 
over  to  my  cousin,  it  will  be  a  bitter  parting  for  me.  Fool  that  I 
was  to  mix  my  heart  up  in  a  business  in  which  I  had  no  concern  I 


206  MAROONED 

If  the  forfeiture  of  her  companionship  is  to  be  the  condition  of 
our  escape,  will  my  growing  emotion  presently  leave  me  with 
disposition  enough  to  lift  so  much  as  a  finger  to  procure  our 
deliverance  ? 

*  Tut ! '  thought  I,  with  a  waft  of  the  mosquito-net  at  a  little 
dance  of  fire-flies  hovering  over  my  knees,  '  it  is  about  time  I 
went  to  sleep ! ' 

I  had  scarcely  got  my  head  down  on  the  carpet-bag  afresh 
when  I  was  indescribably  astonished  by  hearing  the  chimes  of  a 
bell  rung  swiftly.  I  listened  breathlessly  for  an  instant,  be- 
lieving the  notes  to  be  an  illusion  of  my  senses,  but  it  was 
impossible  to  mistake.  No  village  church  belfry  on  a  Sunday 
morning  ever  echoed  a  clearer  summons  to  the  faithful.  The 
ringing  suggested  the  sort  of  agitation  you  notice  in  the  quick, 
eager  pealing  of  a  steamer's  bell  rung  as  a  final  warning  to 
passengers  to  step  ashore.  It  continued  without  cessation.  I 
sat  up,  then  clearing  myself  of  the  mosquito-net,  leapt  to  my 
feet.  I  saw  Miss  Grant  sitting  erect  in  her  hammock. 

*  Oh,  Mr.  Musgrave,  what  is  that  ? '  she  cried. 

'It  will  be  some  vessel,'  I  exclaimed,  'close  aboard  the  island ; 
perhaps  ashore.' 

'  No ;  it  comes  from  those  trees  yonder,'  pointing  to  the  little 
forest. 

She  threw  the  net  like  a  veil  off  her  head,  sprang  from  the 
hammock  to  the  box,  and  thence  to  the  ground.  '  Oh  1 '  she 
exclaimed,  seizing  my  arm,  '  what  can  it  be  f ' 

The  bell  was  no  longer  ringing  rapidly  ;  a  sexton  might  now 
be  tolling  it.  The  slow,  punctually-recurring  chimes  came  along 
like  a  knell ;  they  then  ceased,  and  all  was  stilL  I  paused  a 
little  to  make  sure  if  possible  of  the >  direction  whence  the  sounds 
proceeded.  On  a  sudden  the  ringing  started  off  afresh — such 
a  reckless,  rushing,  clattering  of  noise  that  my  conviction  was 
there  was  a  madman  at  large  upon  the  island,  and  that  this  was 
his  way  of  killing  the  midnight  hours !  The  whole  place  seemed 
distracted  by  the  clamour.  Queer  grunts  rose  out  of  the  grass, 
hard  snoring  noises  out  of  the  trees,  with  a  universal  groaning 
of  frogs  far  and  near,  the  hoarse  inquiring  cries  of  parrots, 
whilst  you  caught  a  shriller  edge  in  the  shrill  minstrelsy  of  the 
crickets.  The  violent  ringing  of  a  bell  in  the  dark  hours  of  the 
nightj  even  when  one  is^as  secure  as  a  safe  lodging  and  all  the 
contrivances  of  civilization  can  make  one,  is,  to  say  the  least,  an 
alarming  disturbance.  But  to  hear  such  a  sound  in  this  lone- 
some island,  apparently  amongst  the  trees  yonder  where  they 
rose  blackest  to  their  topmost  foliage  against  the  ^moon,  when 
it  seemed  as  sure  as  sure  could  be  that  there  was  no  living  human 
being  within  God  knows  what  distance  of  us,  was  such  a  trial 
to  the  nerves  that  I  own  to  haying  hung  in  the  wind  for  a 
space,  amazed  almost  to  a  condition  of  semi-stupefaction. 

The  tumultuous  Tmrum-scarum  ringing  came  to  an  end,  and  was 
succeeded  by  a  me  lanchcly  tolling,  as  though  there  were  a  funeral 


THE  MIDNIGHT  BELL  207 

somewhere  under  way.  Bidding  Miss  Grant  stop  where  she 
was  a  minute,  I  ran  swiftly — I  was  a  very  nimble  runner — to  the 
head  of  the  creek,  whence  in  a  few  moments  I  had  gained  the 
beach  on  the  north  side  of  the  island,  a  part  that  would  have 
been  hidden  to  us  on  the  hummock  by  the  forest.  The  pale 
golden  light  of  the  moon  flooded  heaven  and  ocean,  and  objects 
could  not  have  been  more  visible  had  the  effulgence  been  of  the 
noontide.  There  was  no  sign  of  a  ship  hereabouts.  The  deep 
ranged  with  a  bare  breast  steeping  and  soaking  to  the  indigo 
of  the  sky ;  nothing  stirred  along  the  platform  of  sand  that 
went  twisting  out  of  sight  in  a  pearl-like  haziness  round  the 
bend  of  the  island,  veering  westwards.  All  this  time  the  bell 
was  tolling,  and  now  I  could  not  doubt  that  it  was  being  rung 
in  some  part  of  the  island,  for  as  at  the  creek,  so  here,  the  chimes 
appeared  to  float  directly  from  the  black  shadow  of  the  central 
grove.  I  returned  to  Miss  Grant,  by  which  time  the  sound  of 
the  bell  had  ceased. 

*  It  is  no  ship,'  said  I,  'be  it  what  else  it  may.' 

'  It  is  a  real  bell,  though,'  she  exclaimed. 

'Ay,  real  indeed,'  said  I,  'too  real  for  superstition  to  find  a 
footing  on  it,  though  it  is  a  chilly  sort  of  thing  to  happen  at 
this  hour,  amid  this  wild  loneliness  too.  It  needed  to  have 
been  but  a  little  less  real  to  have  thickened  the  blood  with 
fancies  of  an  enchanted  island.' 

We  waited,  expecting  to  hear  it  again,  but  the  ringer  had 
apparently  exhausted  his  merry -making*  fit  for  the  time  being, 
and  all  remained  silent,  saving  the  chirp  of  the  crickets  and 
the  wash  of  the  surf,  with  here  and  there  a  sulky  croak. 

Had  I  seen  some  figure  stalking  towards  us  out  of  the  wood, 
I  don't  think,  armed  as  I  was,  and  free  from  all  superstitious 
stirrings,  that  I  should  have  been  wanting  in  courage ;  but  I 
confess  I  hesitated  when  it  came  into  my  head  to  penetrate  the 
deep  ebon  shadow  of  the  forest,  and  search  for  the  ringer  and 
his  oell.  In  the  wide  glittering  open,  with  the  moon  riding  high 
overhead,  a  man  rendered  desperate  by  such  a  condition  as 
mine  might  find  heart  enough  for  any  sort  of  search  or  en- 
counter ;  but  the  wood  was  as  black  as  the  bottom  of  a  well. 
Here  ana  there  one  could  just  catch  sight  of  a  faint  oozing  of 
moonshine  into  the  dark  mot  which  the  trees  made  upon  the 
land  and  against  the  sky ;  but  it  was  easy  to  guess  that  one's 
entrance  into  that  heavy  obscurity  must  signify  a  groping 
rather  than  a,  peering  bout.  Who  or  what  might  be  there,  who 
could  say  1 

'No,'  said  I :  '111  not  venture  it.' 

'  Venture  what  ? '  asked  Miss  Grant. 

'  Why,'  said  I, '  I  had  a  mind  just  now  to  explore  for  that  belL' 

'You  would  be  mad  to  do  such  a  thing,'  she  exclaimed,  with 
energy ;  '  indeed,  I  should  not  permit  it/  and  she  grasped  my 
arm.  'There  must  be  a  man  in  that  wood,'  she  continued, 
lowering  her  voice.  '  There  must  be  human  agency  to  set  that 


208  MAROONED 

bell  going.  Perhaps  after  all  the  island  is  inhabited,  and  there 
may  oe  a  nest  of  savages  in  that  forest,  who  hid  themselves  on 
seeing  us,  and  now  dream  of  scaring  us  away  by  ringing  a  belL 
Oh,  I  wish  we  could  be  scared  away  ! '  she  continued,  as  with  a 
shiver  she  glanced  over  her  shoulder  seawards. 

I  shook  my  head.  *No,'  said  I,  'I'll  swear  there  are  no 
Indians  hereabouts.  Had  they  existence,  we  were  bound  to 
have  met  with  some  signs  of  them  j  a  canoe — a  wigwam,  or 
whatever  else  their  dwelling-place  may  be  called — remains  of 
fires — relics  of  feasting.  I  should  like  to  have  a  good  look 
round  from  the  hummock.  Will  you  stay  here?  I  shan't 
be  gone  long.' 

*  Certainly  not.  I  would  not  be  alone  for — '  she  broke  off 
whilst  she  stepped  to  where  her  hat  lay  and  put  it  on,  and  I 
saw  the  glint  of  her  pistol-barrel  in  her  hand.  '  It  is  wicked  to 
feel  nervous,'  she  exclaimed,  '  but  what  could  be  so  unnatural 
as  the  sound  of  a  bell  here  ? — and  then  not  to  be  able  to  imagine 
what  dreadful  creatures  may  be  hidden  amongst  those  trees.' 

We  walked  to  the  hummock,  thinking  much  more  of  the 
sound  of  the  bell  and  of  the  hidden  being  that  had  swung  it  than 
of  the  noisome  or  venomous  objects  we  might  by  chance  tread 
upon,  and  having  gained  the  elevation,  sent  many  a  look  round 
the  sea  and  into  the  heart  of  the  little  island ;  but  all  this  side 
of  the  ocean  was  as  bare  as  the  northern  quarter,  whilst  not 
the  faintest  movement  of  dark  substance  or  of  black  shadow 
could  we  see,  scrutinizingly  as  we  gazed,  on  any  part  of  the 
land.  The  night  breeze  haa  died  away  ;  there  was  scarce  move- 
ment enough  of  air  to  breathe  cool  upon  the  moistened  finger. 
South  and  east  the  ocean  stretched,  motionless  as  a  surface  of 
polished  black  wood,  and  the  languid  seething  of  the  near  surf 
was  so  delicate  that  it  stole  into  the  air  like  the  moan  of 
breakers  leagues  distant.  We  lingered  ten  minutes,  then  returned. 

It  took  me  some  time  to  persuade  Miss  Grant  to  enter  her 
hammock  afresh.  I  told  her  that  I  would  keep  watch ;  that  there 
was  really  no  more  reason  to  be  afraid  now  than  there  had  been 
before  we  heard  the  bell ;  that  if  the  bell  had  been  rung  with 
the  idea  of  scaring  us,  it  was  plain  that,  whatever  might  be  our 
alarm,  we  also  were  held  in  fear ;  that  if  there  were  Indians  in 
hiding,  treacherously  disposed,  they  were  not  very  likely  to 
arouse  us  from  the  sleep  in  which  they  could  have  stolen  upon 
and  murdered  or  otherwise  dealt  with  us  as  it  pleased  them. 

'  It  is  a  puzzle,'  said  I,  '  that  we  must  wait  for  the  daylight  to 
resolve.  Meanwhile  rest  is  necessary  to  you,  and  you  must  please 
lie  down.  Trust  to  my  vigilance,  and  sleep  without  misgiving.' 

Eventually  she  complied.  I  made  her  comfortable  as  before, 
carefully  enveloped  her  hammock  with  the  mosquito-net,  then 
with  a  look  at  my  pistols  to  see  that  all  was  right  with  them,  I 
lighted  a  cheroot,  swigged  off  a  dram  of  brandy,  and  fell  to 
pacing  the  stretch  of  sand,  sentinel-fashion,  close  to  the  hammock, 
and  keeping  a  bright  look-out  on  the  trees  beyond,  believe  me. 


A  PIRATICAL  LAIR  209 

CHAPTER  XXV 

A    PIRATICAL    LAIB 

THB  time  slipped  wearily  and  heavily  away.  The  march  of 
the  moon  was  so  slow  that  it  was  enough  to  make  one  think 
sometimes  she  had  come  to  a  stand.  1  paced  the  breadth  of 
white  sand  till  I  was  weary,  then  sat  down,  nodded,  perhaps 
dozed,  sprang  to  my  feet  again  with  a  keen  look  towards  the 
density  of  trees,  which,  as  the  moon  floated  westwards,  stole 
j>ut  black  and  yet  blacker,  till  the  whole  block  of  it  was  like  a 
great  staining  of  ink  upon  the  liquid  silver  atmosphere  behind, 
and  resumed  my  pacing.  Now  and  again  Miss  Grant  lifted 
her  head,  bride-like  with  the  drapery  of  the  mosquito-curtain  ; 
but  a  time  came  when  she  lay  still,  and  on  stepping  close  very 
softly  and  peering,  I  found  her  sleeping  peacefully,  breathing 
gently  and  regularly,  and  looking  the  very  phantom  of  a  lovely 
woman  under  the  filmy  texture  of  the  curtain,  with  a  sort  of 
lunar  twilight  sifting  through  the  umbrageous  shadow  to  her 
out  of  the  softj  golden-tinctured  air  where  the  open  was. 

It  was  as  if  the  night  were  bewitched,  so  hushed  it  was ;  I 
never  witnessed  a  movement  anywhere  save  the  black  shapes 
of  turtle  crawling  up  the  sand  by  the  creek  side,  or  on  to  the 
beach  facing  the  east.  How  puzzled  I  was  by  the  ringing  of 
the  bell,  by  its  ceasing  for  the  rest  of  the  nighk  by  nothing 
whatever  having  encountered  my  eye  as  a  hint  of  inhabitants, 
by  the  dead  repose  in  the  little  forest,  with  never  a  shadowy 
flicker  anywhere  about  to  define  the  flitting  of  a  human  form, 
I  cannot  express.  At  last,  having  seated  myself  to  rest  after  a 
considerable  spell  of  walking,  I  fell  asleep,  and  so  lay  till  I  was 
awakened  by  the  rising  of  the  sun,  and  opened  my  eyes  upon 
his  blinding  stream  pouring  aslant  from  three  or  four  degrees 
above  the  horizon. 

I  stepped  to  the  hammock ;  Miss  Grant  still  slept,  but  so 
sweet  and  fair  did  she  look  that  I  could  not  break  away  from 
watching  her.  My  fixed  gaze  aroused  her  ;  she  opened  her  eyes 
suddenly,  and  I  backed  a  step,  confused,  and  perhaps  feeling  a 
little  mean  at  being  detected.  However,  she  awoke  with  too 
much  wondering  at  her  own  situation  and  the  strangeness  of 
her  surroundings  to  imagine  my  inqusitiveness,  or  to  note  the 
admiration  which  I  doubt  not  would  have  been  perceptible  in 
me  by  her  clearer  vision.  She  threw  the  mosquito-curtain  off 
her,  and  sat  erect,  and  exclaimed,  '  Thank  God,  it  is  daylight ! ' 
looking  in  a  restless  way  arouna  her,  with  her  hands  clasped, 
her  cheek  with  the  hectic  of  slumber  still  on  it,  her  beauty  rich 
with  the  disorder  of  her  hair,  and  the  light  in  her  eyes  of 
transient  bewildered  thought  that  fired  them  like  contending 
passions. 

However,  she  had  slept  for  three  or  four  hours,  and  was  the 

p 


210  MAHOONED 

stronger  and  fresher  for  it.  For  my  part,  I  felt  so  jaued  and 
stale  that  every  instinct  in  me  clamourea  for  a  plunge,  so  I 
trudged  away  past  the  head  of  the  creek  to  the  north  shore, 
and  spent  ten  delicious  minutes  amid  the  surf  there,  venturing, 
however,  no  further  than  waist-high ;  for  whilst  undressing  1 
had  spied  seawards,  within  musket-shot,  a  motionless  black 
object,  with  a  lean  01  it  that  made  me  fancy  at  first  it  was  an 
empty  bottle,  but  which,  when  it  flashed  out  on  a  sudden  with 
a  wet  gleam,  I  very  promptly  accepted  as  the  dorsal  fin  of  a 
shark. 

I  returned  to  Miss  Grant  feeling  years  younger,  and  found 
her  dressing  her  hair  before  an  ivory  hand-glass,  which  she  had 
hung  against  the  trunk  of  a  tree.  Well,  thought  I,  marooning 
brings  about  strange  intimacies !  Perhaps  it  might  be  married 
people  only  that  a  scrupulous  mutineering  crew  would  think 
proper  to  set  ashore.  But  it  was  no  time  for  fastidious  feelings, 
quite  the  wrong  sort  of  occasion  for  prudery  of  any  sort,  for  any 
kind  of  modesty  and  decorum  outside  the  dictation  of  plain 
good  sense,  realizing  accurately  the  conditions  of  the  situation, 
and  admitting  no  other  government  than  wholesome  honest  in- 
stinct. In  fact  you  must  be  cast  away  with  a  girl  to  find  out 
how  artificial  life  is,  and  how  much  fairer  the  virtues  show  for 
being  purified  by  stress  of  obligation  into  artlessness.  I  was  for 
turning  away,  with  the  idea  of  searching  for  the  eggs  the  turtles 
might  have  laid  in  the  night,  but  she  continued  placidly  brush- 
ing the  long  lengths  of  her  glowing  hair,  with  a  smile  on  her  face 
as  she  looked  at  me  out  of  the  mirror  j  so  I  walked  straight  on, 
and  set  about  overhauling  our  provisions  with  the  idea  of  pre- 
paring a  little  breakfast  for  ourselves.  I  had  taken  a  view  of 
the  sea  from  the  north  side,  and  now  I  searched  the  horizon  on 
this,  but  no  sail  broke  the  shining  line.  At  a  rough  guess  I 
reckoned  that  the  remainder  of  our  private  stores,  which  had 
been  set  ashore  with  us  by  the  men,  might  with  great  care  be 
made  to  carry  us  through  another  fortnight,  helped  by  such 
food  as  we  should  find  on  the  island.  Indeed,  this  question  of 
provisions  did  not  very  greatly  worry  me,  for  there  was  not 
only  promise  of  a  bountiful  supply  in  one  direction  in  the  shape 
of  turtle  :  there  were  cocoa-nuts,  also  oranges  in  plenty,  green  or 
ripe,  on  the  north-west  side  of  the  little  forest,  as  I  had  perceived 
whilst  I  sat  drying  myself  after  coming  out  of  the  sea.  We 
could  count  too  on  a  good  store  of  crawfish,  which  fortunately  I 
knew  how  to  catch.  There  were  iguanas  besides,  delicate  to  the 
palate _ as  spring  chicken  if  properly  dressed,  though  loathsome 
in  their  lizard  form  to  the  eye.  No !  the  fear  of  starving  did 
not  visit  me,  but  mainly  I  believe  because  the  mind  resolutely 
shrank  from  the  contemplation  of  the  possibility  of  our  im- 
prisonment lasting  long  enough  to  render  famine  imaginable. 
The  consuming  thought  was.  How,  if  no  ship  should  approach 
the  place,  were  we  to  escape  i  This  consideration  engrossed  me 
« >  cii  whilst  my  mind  seemed  busy  in  reckoning  up  the  stock  of 


A  PIRATICAL  LATK  211 

provisions,  and  again  and  again  I  would  find  myself  pausing  in 
that  work,  with  a  dull  sense  of  hopelessness  that  was  a  sort  of 
distraction  in  its  way,  whilst  I  looked  round  the  island  wonder- 
ing if  it  was  in  human  ingenuity  to  manufacture  out  of  it  any 
sort  of  floating  fabric  to  which  we  might  commit  ourselves 
without  the  certainty  of  perishing  by  drowning. 

Miss  Grant  was  full  of  the  subject  of  the  bell.  She  could  talk 
of  nothing  else,  and  whilst  we  sat  at  our  little  repast  of  preserved 
meat  and  sweet  biscuit,  she  was  incessantly  directing  looks 
towards  the  wood. 

'There  may  be  people  there,'  she  said,  'watching  us  all  the 
time.  I  thought  I  saw  something  move  when  you  had  left  me 
just  now.  We  must  find  out  to-day  if  this  island  is  inhabited. 
The  approach  of  the  night  will  be  intolerable  if  we  are  to  expect 
that  bell  to  ring  again  without  knowing  whei-e  it  is,  or  what 
produces  the  sound.' 

'  I  shall  explore  those  trees  shortly,'  said  I ; '  let  me  have  your 
pistol.  With  mine  it  will  give  me  three  shots  without  obliging 
me  to  reload.' 

She  drew  it  from  her  belt  where  it  had  lain  all  night  with 
her.  I  thought  I  would  try  its  quality,  and  taking  aim  at  a  leaf 
that  stood  in  clear  green  outline  against  the  sky,  I  pulled  the 
trigger,  and  the  leaf  fluttered  slowly  to  the  ground.  The  sharp 
ping  of  the  pistol  was  followed  by  many  hoarse  cries  of  paroquets, 
and  a  large  bird  broke  like  a  shape  of  burnished  gold  out  of  a 
dense  cover  of  leaves  in  the  heart  of  the  tree  at  which  I  had 
fired,  and  sailed  away  towards  the  forest,  waking  many  hideous 
echoes  with  its  discordant  notes. 

'An  excellent  little  weapon  indeed,'  said  I,  going  to  my  port- 
manteau for  a  powder-flask,  and  reloading  the  pistol.  '  Pity  it 
is  not  old  Eroadwater's  blunderbuss  though.  The  blast  of  that 
bell-mouthed  engine  would  be  the  sort  of  hint  one  would  like  to 
give  if  there  be  ears  yonder  to  receive  such  messages.' 

'I  will  accompany  you,'  said  she ;  'it  is  inaction  and  expectation 
that  keep  me  frightened.' 

'Lord  preserve  you,'  said  I,  'look  at  that  growth  of  grass! 
You  would  need  to  be  dressed  as  I  am  to  penetrate  it.' 

Indeed  it  was  only  too  plain  that  nothing  in  the  shape  of 
petticoats  and  skirts  could  be  forced,  short  of  one's  wake  after 
a  plunge  or  two  becoming  a  raffle  of  shreds  and  tatters,  through 
the  dense,  coarse,  bush-like  herbage  which  stood  to  the  height  of 
a  man's  waist  among  the  trees.  Indeed,  the  better  to  equip 
myself  for  this  adventure,  I  laced  on  a  pair  of  stout  leather 
leggings,  whilst  I  buttoned  myself  up  in  a  short  pea-jacket  so  as 
to  oppose  the  trimmest  figure  I  could  contrive  to  the  stubborn 
dusky  confrontment  of  bush  and  guinea-grass.  Leaving  her 
standing  and  watching,  I  walked  briskly  towards  the  trees,  with 
the  butt-end  of  a  pistol  projecting  from  either  side-pocket,  and 
Miss  Grant's  weapon  in  my  hand.  Piercing  as  the  sunlight  was, 
the  foliage  was  so  dense,  the  intermingling  of  boughs  so  thickly 

¥  2 


212  MAROONED 

complicated,  whilst  the  trees,  moreover,  stood  so  close  together, 
that  within  half-a-dozen  paces  of  the  eastward  opening  of  this 
little  forest  the  green  gloom  lay  beyond  belief  heavy.  The 
obscurity  brought  me  to  a  stand  at  least  a  minute,  until  the 
blinding  glare  of  the  open  had  gone  out  of  my  eyes,  and  I  could 
see  plainly.  Climbers  and  creepers  of  all  kinds,  training  and 
coiling  like  serpents,  added <  yet  to  the  dusk  by  filling  the 
spaces  between  the  trunks  with  a  vague  showering  of  crimson, 
star-shaped  blossoms.  ^  After  the  heat  outside,  the  atmosphere 
here  struck  almost  chill ;  there  was  a  sickly  smell  of  rotting 
vegetation  too,  and  nearly  every  tread  of  mine  was  upon  some- 
thing pulpy  that  yielded  to  the  pressure  with  an  ugly,  juicy 
sensation  as  if  'twas  soddened  through  with  centuries  of  black 
miry  damp ;  though  maybe  it  was  no  more  than  a  toadstool, 
or  a  frog,  or  a  bunch  of  decaying  fruit.  Through  a  little  cleft 
at  wide  intervals  you'd  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  sea  spreading 
brimful  of  soft  blue  light  to  the  sky,  with  a  wild  buzzing  of 
insects  coming  in  through  the  opening  on  a  gush  of  hot  air. 

I  moved  with  a  vigilant  eye,  crushing  warily  through  the 
quickset  understuff,  gazing  at  every  tree-trunk  as  though 
another  step  should  open  a  figure  behind  it  watching  ine.  I 
need  uot  deny  that  I  felt  very  timid.  The  mere  cathedral - 
gloom  made  by  this  dense  interweaving  of  greenery  was  almost 
preternatural  in  its  way,  when  one  thought  of  the  dazzle  that 
was  just  outside.  Then  again,  even  if  there  should  be  no 
human  beings  here  to  suddenly  let  fly  at  me  with  a  spear,  or 
arrow,  or  fusil,  how  was  I  to  know  what  savage  beast  lurked  in 
this  wild  tangle  of  shadows?  Some  of  the  snaking  branches 
wore  the  very  aspect  of  giant  serpents  writhing  in  folds  off  one 
tree  to  another.  Here  and  there  fell  a  smoky,  golden  haze  of 
sunbeam,  but  it  only  deepened  the  obscurity  of  the  leafy  aisles  ; 
though  had  I  had  an  eye  for  such  matters  at  that  time,  I  must 
have  found  something  lovely  beyond  imagination  in  these  dashes 
of  soft  radiance,  bringing  out  some  bunch  of  huge  leaves,  some 
cluster  of  green  fruit  never  maybe  to  ripen,  some  scarred  and 
ragged  elbow  of  bough,  forking  black  through  a  drapery  of 
runners  and  white-hearted  flowers  which  looked  to  be  falling 
like  a  cataract  of  green  waters  flecked  with  foam  from  the  con- 
fused darkling  roof  of  branch  and  foliage  on  hisrh.  Whether  the 
sight  of  my  moving  figure  alarmed  the  scores  of  birds  amongst 
the  trees,  I  know  not ;  but  the  cries,  pipings,  hoarse  parrot- like 
bawlings  which  broke  from  them,  fell  tormentingly  upon  my 
nervous  ear,  that  longed  for  peace  that  it  might  hearken  for  any 
signal  of  danger. 

I  had  been  pushing  my  way  forwards  for  seven  or  eight 
minutes  without  catching  sight  of  anything  more  than  the 
flickering  plumage  of  some  strange  bird  here  and  ^there,  with  the 
glint  on  it  as  of  a  self-luminous  object,  or  as  if  it  still  carried 
the  brightness  oi  the  sunshine  it  had  been  steeped  in,  when  on 
iuy  left,  just  past  a  couple  of  trees  whose  trunks  rose  to  their 


A  PIRATICAL    LAIR  213 

brancnes  with  a  twist  in  them  -which  made  one  think  of  a  jvair 
of  petrified  boa-constrictors,  I  caught  sight  of  a  bell  hanging 
from  under  a  cover  like  the  lid  of  a  box,  supported  by  two  stout 
stanchions,  the  whole  as  green  as  the  wooden  piles  of  a  pier 
washed  by  salt  water.  '  That's  it ! '  thought  I.  '  Come  !  here  is  • 
discovery  number  one.  It  is  a  real  bell  anyhow ! '  and  somewhat 
marvelling  at  the  sight  of  such  a  thing,  I  made  for  it.  The 
frame  that  supported  it  might  have  been  a  hundred  years  old, 
and  the  bell  itself  twice  as  ancient  as  that.  The  metal  was  green 
and  bronzed  with  time  and  weather.  I  made  out  some  faint 
lingerings  of  what  had  been  an  inscription  upon  it,  but  the 
-characters  were  indecipherable.  I  opened  my  knife  and  put  the 
blade  of  it  into  the  wood  of  the  frame,  and  it  was  like  sticking  a 
cheese,  so  damp  and  tinderous  too  was  the  timber,  like  soaked 
matchwood.  A  piece  of  grass  line  was  attached  to  the  clapper, 
and  hung  a  foot  below  the  mouth  of  the^bell.  It  looked  rotten, 
though  I  gave  it  a  tug  without  parting  it.  To  make  sure  that 
this  was  the  same  bell  we  had  heard  in  the  night,  I  struck  it 
two  or  three  times.  The  tone  satisfied  me.  I  also  knew  that 
Miss  Grant,  by  hearing  the  notes,  would  conclude  that  I  had 
discovered  the  bell.  But  who  on  earth  could  have  rung  it  T  I 
sent  as  penetrating  a  gaze  as  the  twilight  of  the  forest  would 
permit  in  all  directions,  but  nothing  approaching  human  shape 
or  signs  of  human  life  was  to  be  seen. 

It  was  clear  enough  that  this  bell  was  seated  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  little  forest,  and  as  I  was  resolved  that  my  over- 
hauling of  the  place  should  be  thorough,  I  pushed  on  to  the 
western  extremity  of  the  trees,  till  I  could  see  the  sea  opening 
like  a  great  blue  eye  over  the  slope  of  down  to  the  ivory  of  the 
sand ;  and  then  worked  my  way  with  a  fight  for  every  foot  I 
advanced,  so  dense,  spike-like,  and  briery  was  the  tangle.  Again 
and  again  I  paused,  always  with  Miss  Grant's  pistol  ready 
cocked  in  my  hand,  and  gazed  earnestly  right  and  left  and 
behind  me,  till  I  presently  came  to  where  the  trees  thinning 
gave  me  a  view  of  the  smaller  of  the  two  hummocks,  with  the 
herbage  and  trails  of  sand  rounding  north-east  to  the  spot 
where  we  had  passed  the  night.  The  daylight  here  lay  broad, 
and  after  walking  a  little  I  came  to  sheer  sand,  with  patches  of 
grass  sprouting  out  of  it,  a  clump  of  cocoas  flourishing  beyond, 
which  made  me  wonder  again,  for  I  could  see  no  sign  of  soiL 

I  halted  a  little  while  to  recover  my  breath,  and  cleanse  my 
face  of  the  sweat  that  poured  down  it.  I  could  no  longer  doubt 
that  the  wood  was  as  untenanted  as  the  rest  of  the  island. 
"What  hand  then  had  rung  the  bell?  There  had  been  no 
draught  of  air  to  stir  the  weight  of  metaHn  the  night.  The 
alighting  of  some  heavy  bird  upon  it  might  indeed  have  caused 
it  to  sway,  but  there  was  nothing  living  with  wings  the  wide 
world  over  to  account  for  the  several  sorts  of  peals  which  had 
rung  forth — the  dirge- like  tolling,  the  quicker  beat,  then  the 
mad  helter-skelter  clattering,  ana  then  the  solemn  requiem 


214  MAROONED 

chimes  again.  It  was  enough  to  put  the  wildest  thoughts  into 
the  most  prosaic  brains  that  ever  mortal  head  carried,  and  I 
must  confess  to  looking  backwards  into  the  dim  twilight  from 
which  I  had  emerged  with  a  sort  of  shrinking  feeling  in  me, 
and  with  a  bit  of  wonder  too  that  I  should  have  found  heart 
enough  to  carry  me  through  the  exploration  with  the  stoutness 
I  had  exhibited^ 

I  started  to  walk  afresh  to  join  Miss  Grant,  when,  having 
made  three  or  four  steps,  forgetful  perhaps  of  preserving  the 
shambling  gait  I  had  used  in  the  high  grass,  the  point  of  my 
boot  struck  something  in  the  sand,  and  down  I  went,  measuring 
the  whole  length  of  me,  the  pistol  I  grasped  exploding  as  I  fell. 
I  jumped  up  not  a  little  flurried  by  this  unexpected  capsizal, 
and  on  looking  to  see  wliat  it  was  that  I  had  kicked  against,  I 
observed  a  large  iron  ring  lying  black  upon  the  sand.  I  thought 
to  pick  it  up,  but  on  grasping  it  I  discovered  that  it  was  fixed 
to  an  eye  screwed  or  bolted  into  either  wood  or  masonry  hidden 
by  the  sand.  I  was  busy  in  scraping  away  the  sand  lying 
around  about  the  ring  with  the  sharp  of  my  foot  when  Miss 
Grant  arrived. 

'What  have  you  seen,  Mr.  Musgrave  ? '  she  cried.  '  At  whom 
or  what  have  you  fired  ? ' 

€0h,'  said  I,  'I  tripped  over  this  ring  just  now,  and  the  pistol 
went  off  as  I  felL* 

She  barely  glanced  at  the  ring  ;  her  thoughts  were  elsewhere. 

'  I  heard  the  bell ;  did  you  ring  it  ? ' 

'  Yes,'  I  replied. 

'What  else  did  you  see  amongst  the  trees  ?'  she  inquired. 

'  Nothing  else.  It  is  some  old  ship's  bell,'  I  replied,  '  hanging 
at  a  kind  of  scaffold  that  might  be  a  hundred  years  old,  perhaps 
more.' 

'  No  man  ^ '  she  asked. 

*  Nothing  in  the  faintest  degree  approaching  one,  black,  white, 
or  yellow,'  I  replied. 

'  But,  Mr.  Musgrave,  wlio  could  have  rung  the  bell  then  ? ' 

'We  may  yet  find  out.  At  present  I  have  not  the  faintest 
.lotion.  But  see  here,  Miss  Grant ;  what  is  the  meaning  of  this 
ring?  It  is  a  fixture.  There  will  be  some  sort  of  trap  down 
here,  or  I  am  much  mistaken.  If  I  had  but  a  spade  now  ! ' 

She  looked  again  at  the  ring,  and  her  interest  came  to  it. 
She  stooped  and  pulled  at  it,  and  then  finding  it  fixed,  recoiled 
a  step  or  two  and  said, '  We  had  better  not  meddle  with  it.  The 
bell  is  wretched  enough  as  a  puzzle.  Don't  let  us  seek  fresh 
adventures,  Mr.  Musgrave.' 

I  mused  a  bit.  '  At  all  events,'  said  I,  '  no  harm  can  attend 
our  seeing  to  what  sort  of  arrangement  the  ring  is  secured.' 

There  were  shells  of  many  kinds  strewn  about  the  beach,  some 
of  them  as  big  as  dishes,  sharp-edged  enough  to  cut  a  man's 
head  off.  I  picked  up  three  or  four,  and  brought  them  to  where 
the  ring  was,  and  fell  to  scratching  and  digging  with  them.  Miss 


A  PIRATICAL  LAIR  21« 

Grant  helping  me.  The  shells  spooned  up  the  sand  plentifully, 
and  after  working  a  little  we  laid  bare  what  had  unquestionably 
been  some  small  ship's  hatch-cover,  about  four  feet  square.  On 
scooping  yet  a  little  at  the  lap  of  the  edges,  I  found  that  this 
cover  rested  upon  a  timber  frame,  which  in  its  turn  was  doubt- 
less steadied  by  piles  driven  into  the  earth  under  the  surface  of 
sand.  I  tugged  with  all  my  might  at  the  ring,  but  could  not  lift 
the  hatch.  Miss  Grant,  whose  curiosity  was  now  aroused,  and 
who  seemed  willing  that  we  should  look  a  little  further  into  this 
business,  put  her  hands  to  the  ring  too,  but  our  united  efforts 
could  do  nothing  with  the  cover.  I  had  no  mind,  however,  to  be 
balked,  and  after  considering  a  while  what  I  should  do,  I  pulled 
out  my  knife,  and  opening  the  saw-blade,  swarmed  up  a  tree  to 
a  stout,  straight,  marline-spike-looking  bough  that  had  caught 
my  eye,  and  putting  my  knife  to  it,  worked  away  patiently  till 
I  had  cut  three-quarters  through  it,  after  which  I  sprang  on  to 
the  bough  and  came  down  with  it  in  a  fall  to  the  ground.  It 
was  as  good  as  a  handspike.  I  reeved  it  through  the  ring, 
using  it  as  a  lever,  and  pressing  it  upwards  with  my  shoulder,  I 
so  jarred  and  shook  the  hatch-cover  that  it  was  presently  loose 
enough  to  lift. 

On  removing  it,  I  found  that  it  had  concealed  a  tunnel  which 
vanished  after  a  gradual  slope  of  a  few  feet  into  utter  blackness. 
Three  or  four  rude  steps  fell  in  a  flight  to  where  the  slope  began, 
so  that  on  descending  a  man  needed  but  stoop  his  head  to  move 
clear  of  the  roof  of  this  strange  cellar.  I  kneeled  down  to  peer 
sideways  into  the  obscurity,  but  saw  nothing  for  the  blackness 
there.  An  old  faint,  damp  sort  of  smell  arose. 

4  We  had  better  put  the  cover  on  and  go  away,'  said  Miss  Grant ; 
1  there  may  be  something  horrible  hidden  in  that  grave.' 

'  Nothing  living,  at  all  events,'  said  I ;  'it  is  some  old  freebooter's 
lair,  some  ancient  piratical  hiding-place,  or  I  am  very  much 
mistaken.  That  secreted  bell  yonder  is  a  part  of  the  equipment 
— set  up  to  serve  as  an  alarm,  and  to  signal  with,  and  perhaps 
to  tell  the  hours  too.  I  must  probe  that  hole ;  there  may  be  a 
discovery  under  our  feet  worth  making.' 

'  Mr.  Musgrave,  you  will  not  be  so  rash  !  What  can  you  hope 
to  discover — that  can  be,  I  mean,  of  the  least  use  to  us  1 ' 

The  sense  of  our  helplessness  seemed  on  a  sudden  to  smite  her 
as  a  shock  ;  she  drew  a  quick  breath,  and  sent  a  yearning  glance 
along  the  ocean  line,  almost  unconsciously,  as  one  looks  up  to 
heaven  in  a  prayer.  I  thought  to  rally  her  with  a  stroke  or 
two  of  idle  fancy,  and  said,  'Time  was  when  many  of  these 
Bahaman  Cays  were  the  haunts  of  the  picaroons ;  swift  and 
tidy  little  schooners,  loaded  to  their  ways  with  the  treasure 
of  plundered  galleons,  came  ratching  to  these  secret  verdant 
islands  ;  the  treasure  was  brought  ashore  by  the  beauties  who 
had  stolen  itt  and  buried.  Occasionally  a  black  man  was  mur- 
dered, that  his  ghost  might  haunt  the  sepulchre  in  which  the 
booty  lay,  and  sentinel  it  against  other  maurauders.  Maybe  it 


218  MAROONED 

was  the  ghost  of  a  murdered  black  man  who  rang  that  bell  last 
night  Miss  Grant,  I  give  you  my  word  I  am  speaking  the 
truth.  The  Goodwin  Sands  themselves  have  scarce  gorged 
more  wealth  in  their  time  than  the  pirates  and  buccaneers 
have  buried  in  the  islands  and  costa  firme  of  these  waters, 
though  I  don't  say  there,'  said  I,  pointing  into  the  square  hole 
that  looked  like  the  mouth  of  a  well.  'Yet  when  we  have  made 
our  escape  from  this  place,  and  are  safe  and  snug  in  civilized 
quarters,  should  I,  on  recalling  this  secret  vaultj  endure  to  think 
that  I  had  wanted  spirit  enough  to  explore  it?  Conceive  of 
our  coming  across  several  chests  down  there  crammed  to  the 
lids  with  golden  doubloons,  crucifixes  of  the  precious  metal 
sparkling  with  gems,  chalices  which  might  make  a  Jew  kneel 
to  the  Sacrament  for  love  of  the  beautiful  workmanship.'  She 
smiled;  I  burst  into  a  laugh.  'No,'  said  I,  '  my  expectations 
are  not  so  high-pitched.  Nevertheless,  I  must  take  a  view  of 
that  interior.' 

'  Mr.  Musgraye,'  she  exclaimed,  with  a  little  pout  and  some 
warmth  of  feeling  in  the  look  she  shot  at  me,  with  a  droop  of 
the  lids  instantly  afterwards — the  most  womanly  touch  that 
could  be  imagined,  with  its  flash  of  reproach  and  the  pleading 
of  the  averted  eye  that  followed,  'pray  do  not  forget  that  if 
anything  should  happen  to  you,  /  am  alone.' 

I  hung  in  the  wind,  for  it  grieved  me  to  give  her  a  moment's 
anxiety.  But  unless  a  ship  took  us  off  it  was  certain  that  we 
must  regard  ourselves  as  prisoners  for  hfe,  if  we  failed  to  devise 
some  fabric  for  making  our  escape  in.  It  was  impossible  to 
know  but  that  we  might  discover  something  in  this  cave  which 
should  prove  of  inestimable  value  to  us,  even  as  a  step  towards 
our  deliverance,  and  on  my  dwelling  upon  this  and  assuring 
her  that  I  could  not  imagine  there  should  be  any  risk  in  my 
taking  a  view  of  the  interior,  her  face  cleared,  and  she  seemed 
to  agree  with  me ;  but  I  could  read  in  her  that  though  she  had 
the  heart  of  a  lioness,  it  fell  short  of  prompting  her  to  offer  to 
accompany  me.  I  doubt  if  there  was  ever  yet  a  woman  who 
would  have  found  courage  to  have  entered  that  black  hole,  even 
though  her  refusal  should  have  cost  her  her  lover.  For  my  part, 
I  felt  no  reluctance  whatever,  and  yet  Miss  Grant  was  so  much 
more  heroical  than  I,  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word,  that 
recollection  of  the  disparity  tempts  me  almost  into  egotism 
in  illustrations  of  my  own  humble  doings. 

I  had  a  parcel  of  sperm  candles  in  my  portmanteau — useful 
articles  to  carry  to  sea  in  those,  as  perhaps  in  these,  days.  I 
fetched  and  lighted  one  of  these,  and  slinging  it  by  a  length  of 
tape,  lowered  it  into  the  square  to  test  the  atmosphere  below. 
It  burned  brightly.  Indeed  my  nose  had  given  me  sufficient 
assurance  of  there  being  nothing  wrong  in  that  way.  Then 
bidding  Miss  Grant  to  remain  where  she  was,  and  not  to  feel 
uneasy,  I  descended  the  steps,  and  holding  the  candle  up.  took 
a  look  ahead.  I  found  myself  on  a  shelving  floor  of  hard  sund 


A  PIRATICAL  LAIR  21? 

and  mould,  walled  on  cither  side  with  stanchions  and  pieces  of 
timber,  running  athwart  into  a  slender  passage,  which,  however, 
opened  rapidly  into  an  apartment,  the  roof  of  which  was  about 
a  head  higher  than  my  full  stature.  This  room  might  be  about 
nine  feet  square.  Beyond  it,  led  to  by  a  doorway  that  had  in 
its  time  been  screened  by  a  curtain,  as  I  gathered  from  the 
sight  oT  a  small  metal  pole  bracketed  athwart  it,  was  a  second 
room,  black  as  any  tomb,  as  you  will  suppose.  The  flame  of  the 
candle  burnt  bright,  yet  it  was  but  a  feeble  light  for  the  illu- 
mination of  such  an  interior  as  this,  and  I  found  it  difficult  to 
distinguish  objects.  On  the  left-hand  side  of  this  first  room  in 
which  I  stood  was  a  low  structure  of  bricks,  which,  on  approach- 
ing it,  I  found  had  served  in  its  time  as  a  furnace  for  cooking. 
Over  against  it,  suspended  by  nails  driven  into  one  of  the  beams 
which  formed  the  transverse  supporters  of  the  wall,  were 
several  quaint,  extremely  old-fashioned  cooking  utensils,  such 
as  saucepans,  frying-pans,  a  kettle,  and  the  like.  Two  or  three 
articles  of  a  similar  description  lay  under  them  upon  the  ground, 
whence  they  had  dropped  through  rottenness  of  the  spikes  or 
timber,  like  over-ripe  fruit.  On  the  right  stood  a  queer 
rustic-looking  table  very  rudely  made,  the  legs  branching  out 
like  open  compasses.  I  had  seen  such  tables  with  villagers 
drinking  at  them  outside  old  rural  public-houses  in  England. 
On  either  hand  were  a  couple  of  high-backed  chairs.  I 
approached  _  the  opening  conducting  to  the  inner  apartment 
somewhat  timorously.  1  was  never  a  superstitious  man,  but 
there  was  something  in  the  aspect  of  this  dim,  mouldy  under- 
ground haunt  that,  affected  as  the  imagination  might  also  be  at 
such  a  moment  by  recurrence  to  the  mystery  of  the  midnight 
bell-ringing,  might  well  have  set  the  hair  of  a  stouter-spirited 
man  than  mine  creeping  and  lifting  upon  his  head.  I  listened 
attentively ;  the  stillness  was  unutterably  deep,  something  to 
make  one  think  of  the  silence  that  a  man  interred  alive  might 
hear  in  his  coffin.  However,  I  had  talked  somewhat  big  to 
Miss  Grant,  and  perhaps  was  in  no  temper  to  be  dismayed  by 
my  own  fancies  ;  so  breaking  from  my  posture  of  hearkening, 
with  a  look  round  at  the  shadows  flitting  to  the  movement  of 
the  candle  in  my  hand,  I  advanced  to  the  threshold  of  the  second 
chamber  and  peered  in,  holding  the  light  in  advance  of  me. 

There  was  some  furniture  here,  and  consequently  objects  suf- 
ficient to  excite  a  passing  emotion  of  consternation  by  the  dark 
flickering,  so  to  speak,  of  several  kinds  of  outlines.  I  stood 
staring,  and  presently  made  the  chamber  out  to  have  been  a 
bedroom.  A  four-post  bedstead,  the  uprights  of  which^  how- 
ever, had  been  cut  short  to  admit  of  their  erection  in  tins  low- 
ceiled  apartment,  stood  opposite  the  entrance.  The  candle-light 
seemed  to  find  a  dull  reflection  in  the  legs  of  it,  and  on  draw- 
ing near  I  saw  that  they  had  been  gilt.  It  had  been  a  very 
magnificent  bedstead  in  olden  times,  no  doubt.  The  feet  were 
ricllly  carved  figures  of  mermaids,  the  posts  of  ebony,  with  signs 


218  MAROONED 

lingering  of  a  once  gaudy  inlaying.  There  was  a  mattress  upon 
the  bed  and  a  great  bolster,  along  with  a  huge,  coarse,  dark  rug. 
Slung  by  straps  to  the  wall  were  several  firelocks  of  the  pattern 
the  buccaneers  of  the  seventeenth  century  were  wont  to  level, 
and  the  like  number  of  pistols,  all  nearly  of  the  dimensions 
of  a  fowling-piece  of  our  time.  There  was  also  a  small  array  of 
broadswords  and  hangers,  some  fallen,  having  rotted  from  the 
straps  by  which  they  had  hung.  I  spied  a  small  chest  in  one 
corner,  of  black  oak,  and  walked  to  it,  having  by  this  time  got, 
rid  of  my  timidity.  I  opened  it — let  me  admit,  with  a  pulse 
accelerated  by  expectation — and  holding  the  candle  close,  looked 
in ;  but  alas !  instead  of  massive  treasure  the  chest  contained 
nothing  more  than  a  quantity  of  fish-hooks  of  various  sizes,  a 
ball  or  two  of  rotted  cotton-thread,  and  three  or  four  parch- 
ment-like rolls,  which  proved  to  be  charts,  of  which  the  tracings 
were  rendered  indistinguishable  by  dirt  and  mildew.  The  side 
of  this  cavernous  chamber  where  the  chest  stood  was  papered, 
as  it  were,  with  a  sort  of  loose  hangings.  I  had  not  noticed 
this  but  for  their  swaying  to  the  little  current  of  air  wafted  by 
my  moving  the  lid  of  the  box.  This  drapery  was  of  yellow  silk, 
covered  with  strange  devices  wrought  in  black,  but  time  or 
damp  had  obliterated  so  much  of  the  figuration,  whilst  my 
candle  gave  forth  so  uncertain  a  light,  that  it  was  impossible  to 
make  a  guess  at  the  nature  of  the  designs.  Here  too  were  a 
couple  of  black  wood  stools,  the  legs  showing  traces  of  gilding, 
and  a  circular  steel  mirror  cut  in  facets,  so  tarnished  that  I 
viewed  it  for  some  time  without  knowing  what  it  was.  Whilst 
I  was  gazing  around  me  lost  in  wonder,  but  with  a  tolerably 
clear  conception  of  the  character  of  this  subterranean  dwelling- 
place,  my  eye  was  taken  by  a  faint  reflection  directly  amidships 
of  the  roof,  and  on  elevating  the  candle  I  observed  that  a  large 
frame  of  glass  had  been  let  into  the  ceiling,  every  pane  lozenge- 
shaped.  It  was  indeed  like  a  skylight  on  a  ship's  deck.  I 
passed  into  the  first  room,  and  observed  the  same  contrivance 
there.  The  sight  of  these  windows  gave  me  an  idea,  and  I  at 
once  stepped  into  the  shelving  corridor  and  mounted  the  steps, 
blinking  like  an  owl  at  the  brilliant  morning  blaze. 

*  Oh,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  cried  Miss  Grant,  '  I  was  afraid  you 
would  never  return !  I  have  been  expecting  every  instant  to 
hear  the  report  of  your  pistol.  What  have  you  seen  ?  Oh,  some- 
thing, I  do  hope,  that  will  explain  that  bell-ringing  last  night.' 

'What  I  have  seen  you  shall  presently  see,'  said  I.  'It  is  as 
snug  a  two-roomed  dwelling-house  as  one  could  wish,  a  bit 
mouldy  perhaps,  but  a  tidier  lodging  than  a  tree  anyhow. 
There  will  be  two  windows  under  the  sand  here.  How  will 
they  bear  now  ? ' 

'  Two  windows ! '  she  exclaimed ;  and  there  was  little  to 
wonder  at  in  her  surprise  either,  for  the  sand  trended  smooth 
to  the  dense  thickets  of  herbage,  where  the  trees  went  huddling 
toto  the  forest  as  though  it  were  formed  of  the  quicksilver 


A  PIRATICAL  LAIR  219 

which  the  metal  dazzle  of  it — like  the  fiery  points  of  new  tin 
flashing  back  the  sun — made  it  resemble  ;  and.it  needed  some- 
thing more  than  imagination  to  enable  one  to  conceive  of  such 
a.  thing  as  a  windoio  having  anything  to  do  with  this  surface  of 
coral,  almost  powdery,  softness. 

After  pondering  a  minute,  I  walked  to  the  spot,  shells  in  hand, 
where  I  reckoned  the  window  of  the  kitchen  underneath  to  be 
situated,  and  fell  a  scraping ;  and  when  I  had  made  a  hole 
about  a  foot  and  a  half  deep,  the  edge  of  the  shell  scratched 
crisply  over  something  polished.  This  proved  to  be  a  frame  of 
glass.  Miss  Grant  stood  beside  me,  looking  on,  scarcely  under- 
.  standing  what  I  was  at,  whilst  I  shovelled  away  with  a  couple 
of  big  shells,  tossing  the  sand  aside  as  a  child  digs  for  sport  on 
the  sea-shore,  until  I  had  laid  bare  a  good  space  of  the  skylight. 
It  was  easy  work,  for  the  admixture  of  soil  was  too  trifling  to 
give  much  density  and  weight  to  the  sand  ;  yet  it  took  me  near 
an  hour  to  lay  bare  the  first  skylight.  I  found  it  formed,  as  I 
had  previously  conjectured,  of  the  frames  of  some  vessel's  sky- 
light, but  of  a  vessel  that  had  been  afloat  in  an  age  when,  as  I 
supposed,  shipwrights  were  here  and  there  to  be  found  willing 
to  embellish  the  fabrics  they  launched  with  lozenge-shaped 
windows  in  the  deck  fittings.  The  frames  lay  flat,  like  the  cover 
of  a  hatch,  solidly  overlapping  the  edge  of  a  timber  casement. 
With  the  help  of  the  handspike  I  had  manufactured,  I  prized 
one  of  the  frames  out  of  its  fixings,  which  had  been  tautened  by 
wet  running  sand  into  a  kind  of  cement,  then  with  my  hands 
tore  it  bodily  up.  The  high  sun  struck  full  through  the  opening ; 
Miss  Grant  peered  down. 

'  It  is  a  room  1 '  she  cried. 

*  Yes,'  said  I,  '  and  it  will  furnish  us  with  the  sort  of  asylum 
we  stand  in  need  of  until  the  moment  of  our  deliverance  arrives.' 

'  You  do  not  intend  that  we  should  sleep  down  there  ? '  she 
exclaimed,  flushing  to  the  startling  thought,  whilst  her  eyes 
brightened  with  the  dread  in  her. 

'You  shall  judge  for  yourself  presently,'  said  I,  laughing. 

'  Sleep  in  such  a  hole  as  that ! '  she  cried,  with  her  white  fore- 
finger dramatically  pointing  downwards,  and  a  fine  imperiousness 
in.  the  pose  of  her  figure  springing  as  it  were  out  of  a  sort  of 
passing^  indignation  at  my  suggestion.  'Why,  Mr.  Musgrave, 
supposing  the  man  that  rung  the  bell  last  night  should  discover 
that  we  were  underground  :  he  might  put  the  covers  on  these 
holes,  and  then — and  then — ' 

'  We  should  be  buried  alive,'  said  I ;  '  only  there  is  no  man 
here,  so  I  am  not  afraid.' 

'  Who  rung  the  bell  then  ? '  she  asked. 

'No  man,  I'll  swear,'  I  answered,  'unless  he  be  endowed  with 
some  mystic  power  of  converting  himself  into  a  bush  or  tree 
at  sight.  Indeed  I  hope  we  may  not  be  able  to  find  out  who  did 
ring  the  bell,'  I  continued,  sending  a  lock  at  the  ocean, '  for  I 
should  like  to  be  taken  off  at  once,  at  this  very  minute  indeed. 


220  MAROONED 

But  if  we  are  forced  to  tarry  we  shall  solve  the  mystery,  depend 
upon  it.  There's  another  window  somewhere  to  be  cleaned, 
Miss  Grant,'  I  continued,  speaking  cheerfully, '  and  when  that's 
done  I'll  show  you  so  quaint  and  surprising  a  curiosity  in  the 
shape  of  a  piratical  lair,  that  if  I  had  it  within  reach  of  the 
millions  of  Great  Britain  I  should  make  a  fortune  in  a  month 
by  exhibiting  it  at  a  shilling  a  head.  But  how  goes  the  hour  1 ' 
I  looked  at  my  watch  ;  it  was  after  eleven.  *  It  is  time,'  said  I, 
'  to  take  a  peep  at  the  sea  from  the  hummock.  Pray  God  some 
gleam  of  canvas  may  be  showing.' 

She  refused  to  remain  until  I  returned,  and  so  we  went 
together.  I  must  own  to  finding  her  most  fascinating  when  she 
was  most  timorous.  In  her  fearless  moods  she  seemed  to  be 
withdrawn  to  a  distance  from  me,  so  to  speak  ;  but  her  manner 

grew  tenderly  clinging  when  she  was  nervous.  She  passed  her 
and  through  my  arm  as  we  walked  away,  giving  a  glance  over 
her  shoulder  at  the  dark  square  of  hatch  upon  the  sand,  with  an 
unconscious  pressure  of  her  fingers  upon  my  sleeve.  It  was 
strange  that  she  who  had  sat  calm  in  the  presence  of  the  body 
of  the  murdered  mate,  who  had  confronted  with  wonderful 
composure  the  most  threatening  and  malignant  experiences  of 
the  voyage,  should  tremble  at  a  black  hole  in  the  sand,  and  at 
my  proposal  to  tenant  a  lodging  which  would  protect  us  at 
least  from  the  dews  of  heaven,  from  the  sting  of  the  mosquito, 
and  from  the  jaws  of  the  land-crab.  But  may  not  one  read  of  a 
field-marshal  fainting  at  sight  of  a  mouse  ?  It  might  not  have 
needed  more  than  a  spider  on  her  petticoat  to  wring  a  wilder 
screech  from  Joan  of  Arc  than  ever  the  stake  extorted.  One  is 
sorry  to  say  it — but  it  is  true,  nevertheless — that  it  is  in  the 
weaknesses  of  human  nature  that  one  finds  its  lovableness. 

There  was  nothing  in  sight.  I  searched  with  a  shipwrecked 
eye,  but  the  brim  of  the  ocean  ran  in  an  unbroken  sweep  of 
blue  to  the  mirroring  of  the  sun.  The  heavens  were  cloudless, 
not  the  faintest  feather  of  vapour  in  the  whole  spacious  dome 
from  its  azure  at  the  horizon  to  its  brassy  central  glare.  The 
heat  would  have  been  unendurable  but  for  the  shelter  of  the 
wide  umbrella  under  which  we  both  stood.  The  faintest 
draught  of  air  was  stirring,  sometimes  expiring  to  let  the  fiery 
buzzing  of  the  island  swing  tingling  to  the  ear,  then  floating 
afresh,  hot  as  a  fold  of  atmosphere  from  a  furnace,  driving  the 
sound  of  the  feverish  concert  back.  The  atmosphere  trembled 
to  the  drawing  of  the  sun  :  branch  and  tree  and  every  spear  of 
grass,  the  slim  length  or  the  cocoa  to  its  tufted  head,  the 
plumed  arch  of  the  palm,  the  great  drooping  leaf  of  the  wild 
cotton-tree,  faintly  writhed  upon  the  sight,  till  you  thought 
you  could  gec^  the  mass  of  tropic  vegetation  growing — with 
many  a  crackling  noise  as  of  growths  rent  by  the  roasting  glare 
cleaving  the  shrill,  fierce  humming  with  a  strange  and  startling 
edge  of  sound. 
Miss  Grant  brought  her  eyes  away  from  the  sea,  and  looked  at 


AN  UNDERGROUND  LODGING  221 

tne  as  we  stood  close  together  under  the  shade  of  the  umbrella. 
'What  is  to  become  of  us?'  she  exclaimed  thoughtfully, 
without  expression  of  alarm  or  dejection. 

'We  must  trust  to  God  and  to  our  own  energy,'  I  replied, 
'  and  above  all  keep  our  hearts  up.  Some  means  of  escape,  if 
nothing  comes  from  outside,  will  suggest  itself.  Meanwhile  we 
have  abundance  of  fresh  sweet  water,  there  is  no  fear  of  our 
lacking  food,  we  have  found  as  decent  a  lodging  as  marooned 
people  have  a  right  to  expect.'  She  sighed  and  tried  to  smile, 
but  you  saw  she  could  get  no  comfort  out  of  the  thought  of  the 
lodging.  '  Our  health  is  good,  and  one  wish  at  least  of  yours 
is  gratified — we  are  not  separated.' 

I  know  not  in  what  sort  of  tone  I  may  have  uttered  this  last, 
but  I  noticed  that  her*  eyes  fell  at  the  close  of  my  speech,  her 
white  teeth  shone  over  her  under-lip  to  the  just  breathless  biting 
of  it,  and  then  she  said  in  her  purely  natural  manner,  '  And  wo 
must  not  be  separated,  Mr.  Musgrave,  until — until — I  mean  you 
ought  not  to  undertake  anything  rash — such  as  exploring  tombs, 
for  instance.' 

I  smiled  and  said,  'A  mouthful  of  something  to  eat  will  not 
hurt  us,  and  I  am  pining  for  a  long  draught  of  yonder  cold 
bubbling  brook.  Afterwards  we  will  have  another  look  at  the 
tomb,  as  you  call  it.  Only  think  of  a  kitchen  ready-made  to  our 
hands  !  We  shall  be  having  turtle-soup  to-morrow,  and  delicate 
fricassee  of  iguana.  There  are  some  plantains  'tother  side  there, 
past  that  hump  of  green,  along  with  an  orange-tree  or  two, 
and  with  patience,  Miss  Grant,  we  may  even  yet  see  our  way  to 
a  fruit-pie.' 

'  Oh  dear,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  she  cried,  with  an  almost  hysteric 
laugh,  and  an  eloquent  impassioned  toss  of  her  hands  that  could 
only  have  come  to  her  with  her  mother's  blood,  '  if  we  could  but 
have  foreseen  all  this  in  London  when  we  were  talking  over  the 
voyage ! ' 

I  fancy  she  read  the  thought  that  was  in  my  mind  at  that 
moment,  and  to  rescue  myself,  I  said,  but  perhaps  too  sedately, 
'  It  will  make  a  thrilling  story  for  you  to  entertain  Alexander 
with.' 

'Ah,  poor  dear  old  boy!'  she  exclaimed,  taking  my  arm  as 
before,  and  we  walked  to  the  spot  where  the  luggage  lay. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

AN  UNDEEGEOUND  LODGINO 

BY  two  o'clock  that  afternoon  I  had  entirely  cleared  the 
second  window  of  the  sand  that  rested  nearly  two  feet  thick 
upon  it.  I  prized  open  a  casement  that  the  apartment  beneath 
might  obtain  purification  from  the  air  as  well  as  from  the 
sunshine,  and  I  then  asked  Miss  Grant  to  step  below  with  ma 


222  MAROONED 

and  view  the  rooms.  She  had  seen  enough  by  peering  through 
the  skylights  to  excite  her  curiosity,  and  moreover  to  reassure 
her  mind ;  and  so  she  now  let  me  hand  her  down  that  black 
hole  from  which  she  had  shrunk  with  her  eyes  ashine  with 
dismay  in  the  morning. 

The  coolness  of  the  atmosphere  in  this  cavern  was  nigh  as 
refreshing  as  a  bath  after  the  roasting  glow  up  above,  and  the 
softened  light  of  it  fell  soothingly  upon  the  eye,  fresh  from  the 
blinding  whiteness  of  the  sand  and  the  blue  brilliance  off  the 
ocean,  where  the  atmosphere  was  sheer  effulgence,  though  the 
afternoon  sun  had  carried  his  wake  around  south,  away  from 
the  quarters  we  had  confronted.  Miss  Grant  looked  quickly 
about  the  place,  advancing  to  the  doorway  of  the  inner  room 
with  a  hurried  survey  of  the  chamber,  «nd  then  her  manner 
lost  its  restlessness. 

'  Do  you  know,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  she  said,  '  I  expected  to  find 
that  you  had  missed  some  secret  way  of  getting  out  of  this 
place.  I  felt  almost  certain  that  this  was  the  haunt  of  the 
person  who  rung  the  bell  last  night.' 

'  You  are  satisfied,  I  hope  ? ' 

4 1  see  two  rooms,  and  only  one  entrance.  Yes,  I  am  satisfied,' 
she  said,  continuing  to  look  round  her  penetratingly.  '  Have 
you  lifted  that  faded  silk  hanging  ? '  referring  to  the  yellow 
drapery  against  the  wall  in  the  inner  apartment. 

'No,  I  answered,  'but  I'll  do  better  than  lift  it,'  and  so 
saying,  I  went  and  pulled  it  down.  It  was  like  dragging  at  a 
cobweb.  No  stagnant  flag  rotting  in  the  gloom  of  an  abbey's 
roof  over  an  aged  stall  would  have  parted  more  easily  to  a  pull. 
The  wall  the  stuff  had  concealed  was  like  the  others,  soil  and 
sand,  solidified  and  shored  up  by  a  great  number  of  stanchions 
and  transverse  beams.  Miss  Grant  now  behaved  as  if  she  were 
in  a  museum.  Her  face  was  lighted  up  by  curiosity,  and  she 
peered  at  everything  with  the  liveliest  interest.  The  daylight 
lay  bright  in  each  room,  and  the  damp  and  mouldy  smell  was 
fast  yielding  to  the  aromatic  air  gushing  warmly  in,  laden  with 
the  island's  multitudinous  voice,  through  the  open  casements. 
I  overhauled  the  contents  of  the  old  black  chest  afresh,  in  the 
hope  of  meeting  with  some  hint  of  the  story  of  this  queer  dwell- 
ing-place, but  found  nothing  to  suggest  an  idea  even.  The 
charts,  so  far  as  I  could  make  them  out,  were  buccaneering 
maps  of  the  Antilles  and  the  Panama  main,  with  here  and  there 
a  rude,  ill-digested,  most  deceptive  outline  stealing  out  of  the 
grimy  thickness  of  dirt  and  mildew.  I  stretched  the  silk  to  the 
light,  but  the  figurations  were  as  vague  as  they  had  shown  by 
candle-light.  The  fire-arms  were  crumbling,  rusty  old  pieces, 
great  curiosities  no  doubt  in  their  way,  as  were  the  pistols  and 
the  hangers,  and  indeed  every  piece  01  furniture  in  the  place. 

'And  you  think,'  said  Miss  Grant,  coming  to  a_  stand  after 
the  narrowest  imaginable  inspection  of  everything  in  true 
womanly  style,  and  gazing  around  her  with  wonder  unmixed 


AN  UNDERGROUND  LODGING  223 

any  longer  with  apprehension,  '  that  this  was  many  years  ago 
the  home  of  a  pirate  ?' 

'Ay,  no  doubt  of  it,'  I  responded.  'A  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago  I  dare  say  this  was  a  very  glittering  and  sumptuous 
interior.  Look  at  the  legs  of  that  bedstead.  ^Saw  any  one  the 
like  of  such  carving,  I  mean  on  so  prosaic  a  piece  of  furniture  t 
It  was  the  princely  decoration  of  some  rich  galleon's  state-cabin, 
I  dare  say,  and  one  need  not  shut  one's  eyes  to  realize  the  idea  of 
a  head  like  Cervantes — who,  by  the  way,  was  an  exceedingly  ugly 
man — snoring  on  a  pillow  there,  the  figure  concealed  to  the 
throat  by  some  exquisitely-worked  counterpane  of  silk.  Here 
.is  enough  to  set  the  imagination  off  into  a  brisk  trot.  The 
high-sterned  pollacre,  striking  the  glory  of  the  westering  sun 
from  her  windows  into  the  dark  blue  beneath,  is  riding  within 
musket-shot  of  the  beach  :  her  captain,  mate,  and  boon  com- 
panions of  the  crew  are  here  carousing.  See  them  in  their 
great  flapping  hats,  their  yellow  belts,  their  big  jack-boots, 
their  spiked  beards,  and  moustaches  curled  to  their  piratical 
eyes,  roaring  put  some  song  of  old  Spain,  with  goblets  before 
them  filled  with  a  vintage  of  which  we,  a  debased  posterity, 
can  never  know  the  generous,  the  magical  qualities.  The 
old  villains !  they  drank  all  the  fine  liquor,  and  left  us  the 
gout ! ' 

'  Your  picture  wants  a  heroine,'  said  Miss  Grant,  laughing. 

'Oh,'  said  I,  'I  have  not  forgotten  her.  She  must  be  yellow- 
haired  ;  some  Saxon  sweetheart  captured  out  of  an  English 
ship,  bound  shall  we  say  to  Bio,  Miss  Grant?  She  has  ex- 
hausted the  language  of  entreaty,  wept  her  glorious  eyes  dim, 
and  grief  as  she  sits  yonder  is  eating  away  her  trembling  little 
heart  as  she  listens  with  a  loathing  ear  to  the  deep-throated 
chorusings  of  the  black -browed  roysters,  as  they  sit  clinking 
their  silver  flagons  at  that  very  table  there,  perhaps  !  _  The  Lord 
preserve  us  !  what  a  brush  has  fancy — to  one's  own  intellectual 
eyesight,  I  mean — when  her  pigments  are  such  realities  as 
yonder  bedstead,  those  high-backed  chairs,  those  queer-looking 
irying-pans,  in  which  many  a  hearty  turtle-steak  has  hissed, 
many  a  Friday's  absolving  fare  of  fish  has  spluttered  !  But  to 
be  serious,  Miss  Grant,  will  not  these  rooms  yield  us  the 
accommodation  we  require  ? ' 

She  shook  her  head  a  little  dubiously.  '  If  we  could  remove 
that  gloomy  old  bedstead — '  she  said. 

'  Oh,  certainly,'  I  interrupted.  '  A  little  hammering  of  it  with 
one  of  those  muskets  should  render  it  portable.  Your  hammock 
will  take  its  place  excellently.  Then,  with  the  skylight  case- 
ment a  bit  open  for  the  fresh  air  it  would  let  through,  and  a 
shawl  swung  from  that  metal  rod  over  the  doorway,  the  room 
would  provide  you  with  as  snug  a  retreat  as  any  hotel  could 
offer ;  whilst  I  should  make  my  bed  here ' — we  were  conversing 
in  the  room  which  I  must  call  the  kitchen — '  ready  at  a  moment's 
notice  to  interpose,  pistol  in  hand,  betwixt  that  entrance  which 


224  MAROONED 

your  presence  beyond  will  render  sacred,  and  the  villainous  bell- 
ringer,  whoever  he  may  be.' 

'You  do  not  think  of  sleeping  here  to-night,  at  all  events,'  she 
said. 

'No,  since  I  see  how  reluctant  you  still  are.  But  your  health 
is  precious,  and  mine  too  is  precious  for  your  sake.  A  few 
nights  of  exposure  to  the  damp  of  these  moonlit  heavens 
would,  I  fear,  tell  upon  us  both,  breed  a  fever,  afflict  us  with  the 
ague,  disable  us  by  some  sort  of  sickness,  and  leave  us  in  a  very 
bad  case  indeed.  We  have  to  get  away  from  this  island,  you 
know;  and  if  we  design  to  achieve  our  deliverance  we  must 
keep  well* 

Her  good  sense  came  to  her  rescue ;  she  perceived  the  truth 
of  my  words,  and  said  she  would  do  as  I  wished,  only — not  to- 
night. When  that  terrible  bedstead  had  been  removed  the 
place  would  look  more  wholesome. 

'Whatever  I  propose,' said  I,  ' is  with  thoughts  of  your  com- 
fort, your  health,  your  security  chiefly — indeed,  nineteen  times 
out  of  twenty  wholly.  'Tis  a  bitter,  hard  experience  for  you, 
and  would  to  God  I  knew  how  to  soften  it,  better  still  how  to 
end  it.  But  the  thing  looks  us  in  the  face,  and  we  must  meet  it 
as  bravely  as  we  can.  My  part  is  that  of  a  protector.  If  I 
know  myself  I  shall  play  it  dutifully.' 

She  glanced  at  me  a  moment  as  if  she  would  speak,  then 
hung  her  head  to  hide  the  tears  which  filled  her  eyes,  whilst  she 
extended  her  hand,  saying,  'I  thank  you — I  thank  you,  Mr. 
Musgrave,'  just  above  her  breath. 

I  never  recall  this  strange  wild  time  without  asking  myself 
whether  I  acted  as  a  true,  upright,  high-minded  gentleman 
should  towards  this  lady,  situated  as  she  was,  forced  by  stress 
of  ocean  into  intimate  association  with  me,  at  the  mercy  of  my 
feelings  and  instincts  as  a  man.  I  did  my  best.  I  know  that 
my  one  whole-hearted  desire  was,  she  should  never  suffer  an 
instant's  pain,  be  sensible  of  a  moment's  grief,  of  the  lightest 
stir  of  uneasiness,  through  this  obligation  of  bare  unconventional 
companionship  with  me.  I  could  summon  no  better  government 
of  thought  for  my  behaviour  than  this  resolution.  But  then 
her  own  frank,  fearless,  beautiful  nature  helped  me.  Her  very 
purity  was  like  a  meeting  of  my  efforts  half -way.  A  little  too 
much  of  modesty  in  her  would  nave  constrained  me  with  a  con- 
stant sense  of  embarrassment  by  which  I  might  have  been  led 
into  blunders.  Indeed  I  have  to  thank  her  own  heroic,  honest 
nature  for  the  successful  accomplishment  of  my  desire,  that  our 
association  on  this  island  should  be  as  painless  to  her  ^modesty 
as  a  woman  as  though  the  formidable  conditions  of  our  isolation, 
•which  forced  us  close  and  bound  us,  so  to  speak,  together,  had 
been  as  stringent  as  they  were  indeed  relaxing. 

I  devoted  the  rest  of  the  afternoon  to  dismantling  the  under- 
ground rooms ;  again  and  again,  however,  intermitting  the 
work  to  repair  to  the  summit  of  the  hummock  for  a  view  of  the 


AN  UNDERGROUND  LODGING  225 

sea,  but  without  beholding  the  least  sign  of  a  vessel,  though 
never  could  despair  have  rendered  human  gaze  more  strenuously 
eager  and  searching  than  mine.  The  task  I  had  set  myself 
distracted  my  thoughts ;  yet  it  was  extremely  depressing  too. 
It  was  as  though  we  felt  there  was  no  help  or  hope  for  us,  and 
that  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  reconcile  ourselves  to  our 
miserable  lot,  and  effect  the  best  settlement  upon  the  island 
that  could  be  contrived  by  persons  who  were  almost  wholly 
without  resources.  I  caught  Miss  Grant  eyeing  the  aged  sauce- 
pans and  frying-pans  with  an  air  of  mingled  doubt  and  thought- 
fulness,  and  then  she  presently  made  a  little  collection  of  them, 
and  was  going  up  the  steps.  I  asked  her  what  she  intended  to 
do  with  the  tilings.  She  answered  that  she  meant  to  clean 
them ;  they  were  not  fit  to  use  as  they  were.  I  looked  at  her 
delicate  white  hands  with  a  movement  of  remonstrance  in  me, 
but  then  I  reflected  that  occupation  of  any  sort  was  good  for 
people  situated  as  we  were,  and  that  the  soiling  ^or  coarsening 
of  her  hands  would  be  but  a  very  small  matter  indeed  side  by 
side  with  the  desperate  needs  which  might  presently  grow 
upon  us.  But  it  was  with  something  almost  of  a  laugh  of 
bitterness  that  I  turned  from  her  handsome  form  as  she  mounted 
the  steps  to  the  open,  and  resumed  my  work.  'A  pretty 
leveller  is  the  sea  ! '  thought  L  '  To  think  of  this  stately  and 
lovely  lady,  who  ought  to  be  drawing  close  to  her  sweetheart, 
and  to  the  comforts  and  refinements  of  a  sunny  and  pleasant 
home,  scouring  old  pots  and  pans  upon  a  desert  island ;  with 
myself,  a  gentleman  at  ease,  forsooth !  a  Piccadilly  dawdler, 
knocking  an  old  bedstead  to  pieces,  as  though  he  had  bound 
himself  apprentice  to  some  old  rag-and-bone  merchant,  and 
furbishing  up  a  residence  which  even  a  mole  might  eye  with 
distrust ! 

Nevertheless,  denuded  of  my  coat  and  waistcoat,  and  my 
shirt-sleeves  rolled  above  my  elbows,  I  continued  to  toil  man- 
fully, making  very  little  account  of  the  gloomy  thoughts  that 
weighed  on  me.  With  the  stock  of  one  of  the  muskets  1 
speedily  demolished  the  bedstead,  carrying  it  piecemeal  above, 
where  I  found  Miss  Grant  seated,  shaded  by  an  umbrella, 
polishing  the  saucepans  and  other  contrivances  with  a  wet  rag 
and  sand.  One  showed  bright  to  her  scrubbing,  and  she  watched 
me  with  a  well-pleased  face  as  I  inspected  it.  The  fact  was, 
there  had  come  to  my  mind  the  story  of  a  party  of  shipwrecked 
people  who  had  been  poisoned  by  eating  food  cooked  in 
utensils  which  they  had  found  in  an  old  house  hard  by  the 
spot  where  they  had  been  cast  away,  and  I  considered  our 
sufferings  already  too  lively  to  demand  the  supplementary 
punishment  of  a  deadly  stew-pan.  However,  the  kettle  was 
of  iron,  and  the  other  things  of  stout  block  tin,  and  so  I  went 
back  to  my  work,  leaving  her  to  go  on  with  hers. 

I  remember  I  was  sufficiently  silly,  as  I  cleared  this  cavernous 
retreat  of  such  grimy  furniture  as  we  did  not  need,  to  continue 


228  MAROONED 

in  some  small  hope  of  meeting  with  something  unexpected 
Must  I  confess  it?  I  was  weak  enough  to  suffer  myself  to  be 
haunted  by  a  little  dream  of  treasure.  I  was  but  a  young  man, 
with  much  of  the  boy  still  clinging  to  me.  After  all,  this  was 
a  sort  of  adventure  to  make  even  an  older  heart  than  mine  feel 
virginal  with  romantic  fancy.  A  cave  into  which  the  light  of 
day  may  not  have  penetrated  for  above  a  century — as  true  a 
copy  of  a  piratical  lair  as  the  most  ardent  imagination  could 
body  forth — into  which  the  dullest  eye  could  not  have  peered 
without  peopling  it  with  a  score  of  spectral  things  vital  with 
the  colours  of  imagination,  and  gathering  a  character  of  sub- 
stantiality almost  from  the  odd  fantastic  surroundings  of  dim 
silk  and  drapery,  of  a  bedstead  that  carried  one's  thoughts  to 
the  great  galleon  with  its  bristling  broadsides,  and  its  mast- 
long  pennons  ;  of  cutlass,  matchlock,  and  hanger  charged  with 
suggestions  of  the  Tortugas,  Panama,  the  train  of  mules  laden 
with  silver,  bracelets  of  gold  on  arms  of  ebony,  and  the  citadel 
ramparting  store-houses  of  ingots  built  roof-high — why,  I  say, 
it  was  impossible  for  me,  with  such  young  eyes  as  I  then  carried 
in  my  head,  man  though  I  was  in  years,  to  dismantle  such  a 
retreat  as  this  without  the  sort  of  hope  that  must  have  set  me 
laughing  had  it  been  told  to  me  of  another.  But  I  explored 
to  no  purpose.  Floor  and  wall  were  solid  ;  no  hint  of  a  trap- 
door, no  sign  of  a  secret  hiding-place.  Whether  the  discovery 
of  a  chest  of  bullion,  or  a  sack  full  of  ecclesiastical  furniture 
in  precious  ore  would  have  served  to  reconcile  us  to  being 
marooned,  I  don't  know ;  but  on  looking  back  I  cannot  but 
think  that  we  deserved  some  such  reward,  and  am  still  weak 
enough  to  imagine  that  had  I  hunted  more  diligently  yet,  I 
might  have  met  with  it. 

I  again  examined  the  charts  in  the  chest,  with  the  hope  of 
being  able  to  make  a  guess  at  the  name  or  situation  of  this 
island,  but  to  no  purpose.  Mildew  and  dirt  had  done  their 
work,  and  the  tracings  were  as  indistinguishable  as  the  black 
background  of  an  aged  portrait.  I  let  the  chest  lie  as  it  stood. 
When  I  came  to  look  at  the  chairs  I  found  them  very  finely 
carved,  and  old  enough  to  have  formed  part  of  the  equipment  of 
a  manor  in  Henry  VIII, 's  time.  The  part  of  my  work  I  least 
liked  that  afternoon  was  the  handling  of  the  mattress.  It  was 
a  great  bloated  bed.  I  laid  it  upon  the  floor,  and  when  I  had 
knocked  the  bedstead  to  pieces,  was  about  to  lay  hold  of  it  to 
drag  it  up  above,  when  I  thought  it  stirred  as  though  something 
were  inside  it.  It  was  mere  imagination,  of  course,  yet  I  own 
that  the  fancy  so  frightened  me  that  I  stood  staring  at  it  for 
some  moments  like  a  fool.  Then  I  gave  it  a  pull  to  make  sure 
that  it  was  as  light  as  I  had  before  believed,  and  not  yet  being 
satisfied,  I  jumped  upon  it,  trying  to  make  out  if  I  could  feel 
anything  inside  with  my  feet.  This  I  managed  so  cleverly  that 
I  fell  plump  over  the  odd  inflation  of  the  thing  just  as  Miss 
Orant  arrived  for  another  pan  to  polish.  I  saw  her  start  as  I 


AN  UNDERGROUND  LODGING  £>7 

got  up,  and  toss  her  hands  with  a  brilliant  stare  of  sudden  fear, 
then  she  burst  into  a  tit  of  laughter. 

'Oh,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  she  cried,  laughing  continuously  whilst 
she  spoke,  and  pointing  to  the  mattress, '  for  a  moment  I  actually 
believed  it  was  a  man  that  you  were  wrestling  with.' 

I  rose  crimson  with  my  fall  and  with  the  exertions  I  had 
been  undergoing,  and  said,  *I  believed  something  was  alive 
inside  it.' 

4  Something  alive  inside  it ! '  she  exclaimed,  in  a  tragic  voice, 
with  her  gravity  coming  back  to  her  in  a  breath,  and  recoiling  a 
step. 

It  was  now  my  turn  to  laugh.  '  It's  all  right,'  said  I,  giving 
the  thing  a  hearty  kick  ;  '  it  was  mere  fancy ;  but  something 
seemed  to  move,  and  so  I  jumped  upon  it.'  I  then  seized  hold  of 
it  to  drag  it  up  the  steps,  and  I  laughed  again  to  see  how  she 
ran.  She  would  have  confronted  a  band  of  savages,  I  do  believe, 
with  a  resolute  face,  but  this  mattress  was  too  much  for  her.  I 
did  not  let  go  until  I  had  got  it  down  to  the  sea,  where  it  floated 
away  handsomely  and  sank.  It  is  odd  how,  in  such  a  situation 
as  we  were  placed  in,  little  things  will  affect  the  imagination.  I 
am  sure  that  had  that  mattress  remained  in  the  cave,  I  should 
never  have  been  able  to  occupy,  or  at  all  events  to  sleep  in,  the 
place.  I  believe  I  could  not  nave  consigned  a  dead  body  to  the 
deep  with  graver  satisfaction  at  being  quit  of  it. 

There  was  no  chimney  to  the  kitchen,  but  on  making  up  a  fire 
of  wood,  dry  grass,  and  the  sweepings,  so  to  speak,  of  these  rooms, 
in  order  to  test  the  furnace,  I  found  that  the  smoke  passed  out 
freely  through  the  open  skylight,  whilst  despite  the  apparent 
want  of  draught,  the  tire  burnt  briskly  enough  to  roast  us  a  leg 
of  mutton,  had  we  such  a  thing.  I  should  have  been  glad  to 
take  up  my  abode  that  same  night  in  these  secret  chambers,  for 
I  could  see  my  way  to  as  comfortable  a  bed  of  leaves  and  grass, 
with  a  rug  for  a  sheet  and  another  for  a  coverlet,  as  I  needed 
to  lie  on,  with  promise  besides  of  escape  from  the  mosquitoes 
and  the  cold  clip  of  the  land-crab's  jaws.  But  Miss  Grant's 
soft  shake  of  the  head  determined  me  to  say  no  more  about  it. 
It  was  her  humour  to  sleep  another  night  in  the  hammock 
under  the  trees,  and  it  was  my  duty  to  be  near  her.  I  thought 
to  myself,  should  the  bell  toll  to-night,  her  mind  may  come  more 
willingly  to  the  underground  shelter  to-morrow.  For  my  part 
it  seemed  like  mocking  at  luck  to  lie  all  night  with  nothing  but 
blue  atmosphere  betwixt  the  trembling  stars  and  one's  body, 
when  there  was  as  good  a  roof  for  one  as  old  mother  earth 
could  supply  close  at  hand.  But  he  must  be  a  clever  man  who 
can  even  dimly  guess  at  but  a  portion  of  what  goes  to  a  woman's 
timidity  and  reluctance. 

I  was  mightily  glad  when  sundown  came.  The  fierce  glare 
of  the  day  striking  down  out  of  the  swimming  brassiness  of  the 
skies,  and  flowing  back  in  intolerable  sheen,  like  an  echoing  of 
if  such  a  thing  could  be,  off  the  dazzle  of  coral  sand  and 
<4  2 


228  MAROONED 

silk-smooth  -water,  made  a  veritable  anguish  of  the  eyesight 
when  clear  of  the  shadow  of  the  trees.  The  evening  fell  upon 
us  sweet  as  a  blessing,  with  its  dewy  richness  and  coolness  of 
air,  and  the  hush  of  the  discordant  voices  of  the  island,  in  a 
pause  between  the  ceasing  of  the  cries  and  screams  of  birds, 
and  the  small,  fierce,  sultry  concert  of  the  insects,  and  the  first 
notes  of  the  crickets,  and  the  sullen  croak  of  the  frogs.  We  sat 
or  strolled,  as  on  the  previous  night,  till  the  moon  was  high, 
talking  of  Rio,  of  what  my  cousin  would  be  thinking,  of  the 
probable  fate  of  the  Iron  Crown,  of  our  prospect  of  escape, 
and  a  score  of  such  matters.  Once,  on  the  sheer  rim  of  tho 
sheet  of  glory  lying  under  the  moon,  we  both  thought  we  could 
make  out  a  black  speck,  and  I  never  could  have  imagined  how 
wildly  passionate  was  the  desire  for  deliverance  in  us  both — 
so  smoothly  would  we  talk  of  our  rescue,  so  quiet  was  the  face 
we  had  put  upon  our  distress — until,  as  we  stood  gazing  with 
our  hearts  in  our  eyes  at  the  extremity  of  the  silver  wake  with 
the  purple  gloom  lifting  like  the  banks  of  a  river  to  it  on  either 
side,  I  felt  her  hand  in  mine  trembling,  and  damp  with  the 
dew  of  an  ungovernable  emotion,  whilst  on  my  side  my  breath 
came  and  went  as  thick,  dry,  and  difficult  as  though  a  poison 
worked  in  me.  That  it  was  a  ship  we  neither  of  us  could  say. 
Sometimes  we  fancied  we  saw  it,  then  it  would  go,  then  seemed 
to  blacken  out  again  into  a  tiny  spot.  So  dead  was  the  calm 
the  lightest  craft  could  scarce  nave  floated  the  distance  of  a 
fathom  in  an  hour.  There  was  something  almost  of  a  physical 
burthen  to  the  sensibility  in  the  profound,  stir  less  tranquillity 
that  seemed  to  come  weigliing  down  with  the  fine  clear  dusk  of 
the  night.  You  almost  blessed  the  crickets  for  the  rising  and 
falling  of  their  bell-like  chirping^  and  bent  the  ear  to  the 
delicate  ripple  of  surf,  for  the  relief  you  got  out  of  the  soft 
simmering  noise  of  it.  But  let  it  have  been  a  ship  or  fancy, 
'twas  all  the  same  to  us.  The  spangled  indigo  01  the  dome 
went  down  with  its  stars  to  the  lustrous  sea-line,  smoothing  it 
there  to  a  flawless  rim  ;  and  Miss  Grant  let  fall  my  hand  with 
a  deep  sigh,  and  a  sudden  look  of  grief  at  me  in  the  moonlight, 
for  which  there  was  no  answer  but  silence. 

However,  partly  with  the  wish  to  distract  her  mind,  and 
partly  because  of  the  necessity  for  such  a  thing,  I  thought  I 
would  see  if  there  were  any  craw-fish  to  be  obtained  ;  so  first  of 
all  I  cut  a  bough  from  a  tree  which  I  had  previously  observed 
to  be  of  a  resinous  nature,  and  on  putting  fire  to  it  found  that  it 
made  just  such  a  torch  as  I  needed.  I  then  fashioned  a  shawl 
into  a  sort  of  bag,  which  I  requested  Miss  Grant  to  hold,  desiring 
her  also  to  take  her  stand  close  by  the  wash  of  the  water  on  tho 
beach,  ready  to  pick  up  and  pop  into  the  shawl  such  fish  as  I 
might  have  the  luck  to  capture  ;  then  turning  up  my  trousers 
to  above  my  knees,  I  waded  a  little  distance  into  the  sea,  not 
•without  some  anxiety  regarding  my  toes,  for  I  knew  there  would 
e  plenty  of  crabs  hereabouts,  big  and  powerful,  with  tho  jawg 


AN  UNDERGROUND  LODGING  229 

almost  of  a  young  shark  in  their  gripping  and  cleaving  qualities. 
The  smoky  flame  of  my  torch  threw  a  yellow  illumination 
through  the  water  to  the  bottom  of  it,  and  after  waiting  a  little 
I  was  rewarded  by  the  sight  of  several  black  objects  crawling 
like  lizards  to  my  legs  out  of  the  darkness  past  the  sphere  of  the 
sulphur-coloured  radiance.  I  dipped  briskly,  ana  in  a  few 
minutes  had  chucked  a  good  round  score  of  craw-fish  on  to  the 
beach,  and  as  fast  as  they  fell  Miss  Grant  picked  them  up,  till 
the  improvised  bag  writhed  to  the  movements  of  the  creatures 
as  though  it  were  something  living  in  her  hand.  She  had 
recovered  her  spirits,  and  called  out  laughingly  to  me  that 
•  some  of  these  days  she  would  endeavour  to  draw  my  portrait  as 
I  then  stood,  for  she  could  not  imagine  a  more  romantic  scene. 
Romantic  it  was,  I  doubt  not,  and  she  meant  what  she  said,  spite 
of  the  touch  of  banter  her  cordial  girlish  laughter  gave  to  her 
speech.  To  see  that  it  was  so,  one  has  but  to  think  of  my  figure, 
black  to  the  moonshine  on  the  water,  spite  of  the  yellow  tinctur- 
ing of  it  by  the  flame  of  the  torch ;  twin  shadows  of  me  flung  by 
the  firebrand  and  the  moonbeam  slightly  swaying  on  the  dusky 
ripple  that  floated  shorewards  into  a  mere  wire-like  breaker, 
jay  companion's  fine  figure  pallid  in  the  showering  of  the  silver 
light,  but  clear-cut  too  against  the  snow-white  softness  of  the 
sand  which  went  shelving  up  behind ;  her  dark  eyes  neverthe- 
less stealing  out  even  to  a  brief  gaze  at  the  glimmering  phantasm 
of  her  lineaments  ;  the  island  background  of  huddled  blocks  of 
vegetation  ;  the  stars  jewelling  the  fibrine  outlines  of  the  trees  • 
the  sweep  of  the  land  to  the  hummocks  looking  mountainous  and 
remote  in  the  illusive  atmosphere,  and  then  the  smooth  plain  of 
ocean  glooming  out  into  the  vast  distance  with  a  sudden  arrest 
of  it  against  the  sky,  and  a  stern  bending  round  of  its  confines 
that  made  the  imagination  desolate  with  the  sense  of  irremediable 
imprisonment. 

There  was  some  labour  in  the  occupation  of  dipping  for  the 
fish  ;  but  the  water  circled  cool  to  my  knees,  the  breath  of  it 
too  floated  refreshingly  to  the  face,  and  flinging  away  the 
smouldering  remains  of  my  torch  I  waded  ashore,  brisk  as 
though  from  a  bath,  and  lighted  a  cigar  with  immense  relish  of 
the  fumes  of  the  tobacco.  I  dropped  the  bundle  of  craw-fish 
clown  the  hole  that  led  to  the  underground  rooms,  and  sat  for  a 
long  while  with  Miss  Grant ;  our  camp-stools  in  the  heart  of  the 
ivory  whiteness  of  the  tract  on  which  I  had  slept  last  night, 
and  on  which  I  was  again  to  sleep.  Occasionally  my  com- 
panion would  look  a  little  nervously  towards  the  forest.  No\v 
that  the  silent  night  had  come,  thoughts  of  the  mysterious  bell- 
ringing  troubled  her  afresh.  Since  it  was  impossible  for  the 
bell  to  ring  itself,  she  said,  it  must  have  been  tolled  by  human 
agency  of  some  sort.  No  bird  or  beast  alighting  upon  or 
thrusting  against  it  could  have  produced  the  varied  ringing  we 
had  heard,  and  consequently  she  was  certain  there  was  a  matt 
hidden  iu  the  wood. 


230  MAROONED 

'  Why  should  he  hide  ? '  said  I,  wanting  to  reassure  her,  for 
some  hours  of  moonlight  and  gloom  yet  lay  betwixt  us  and  the 
daybreak. 

'  For  fear  of  us,  perhaps,'  she  answered. 

'If  that  be  so,'  said  I,  'would  not  he  be  mad  to  make  his 
presence  known  by  ringing  the  bell?'  She  could  not  answer 
this.  '  Besides,'  continued  I,  '  where  would  he  hide  himself  ?  I 
searched^the  forest  pretty  narrowly.  "Tis  true  he  might  have  a 
lodging  in  the  hollow  or  a  tree,  but  you  can't  reconcile  any 
motive  that  a  man  would  have  in  concealing  himself,  with  his 
lusty  ringing  of  a  bell  at  midnight^— raising  about  the  most 
alarming  clamour  that  human  ingenuity  could  hit  upon.' 

'Then,  Mr.  Musgrave,  you  wish  me  to  believe  that  the  bell 
rang  of  its  own  accord,  or  that  it  was  struck  by  some  spirit 
hand?' 

This  silenced  me  in  my  turn.  For  my  own  part,  I  could  not 
make  head  nor  tail  of  the  matter,  though,  spite  of  the  clear 
expression  of  human  agency  that  I  had  found  in  the  changes  of 
the  performance  of  the  mysterious  bell-ringer,  I  would  have 
been  willing  to  bet  all  I  was  worth  that  I  was  the  only  man  on 
that  island,  as  Miss  Aurelia  was  the  only  woman.  But  it  was 
not  a  thing  to  bother  ourselves  too  much  about.  It  was  an  odd 
ocean  puzzle,  which  grew  a  bit  wild  with  the  deepening  of  the 
night,  and  the  thickening  out  of  the  dusky  shadows  of  the  little 
forest  to  the  westerly  drawing  down  of  the  moon.  But  my  mind 
was  too  greatly  worried  with  other  considerations  to  give  it 
heed  enough  to  render  me  restless  on  its  account. 

Whilst  we  sat  conversing  I  spied  the  black  shape  of  a  turtle 
creeping  out  of  the  creek,  with  the  moon  sparkling  in  the  wet 
of  its  shell.  'I  must  have  that  lady,'  said  I  ;  'she  looks  but  a 
tortoise,  and  a  small  one  at  that.'  I  fetched  the  handspike  I  had 
manufactured  that  day  to  prize  open  the  skylight  casement  in 
the  sand,  and  then  waiting  till  the  creature  had  put  a  good  dis- 
tance between  it  and  the  water's  edge,  I  made  for  it,  and  with 
more  dexterity  than  I  should  have  believed  myself  capable  of,  I 
slipped  my  pole  fair  between  the  flippers,  and  with  a  hearty 
spring  turned  the  thing  fair  on  to  its  back.  I  then  opened  my 
knife  and  cut  its  throat,  feeling  as  remorseful  through  the  horror 
of  the  needful  operation  as  a  conscience-stricken  murderer, 
despite  my  perceiving  how  needlessly  inhuman  it  would  have 
been  to  let  the  poor  creature  lie  all  night  in  the  torment  of  its 
capsized  posture,  only  to  decapitate  it  next  morning  after  all. 
It  was  a  small  hawk's-billed  turtle,  I  believe  weighing  less  than 
one  hundred  pounds,  or  I  should  never  have  been  able  to  deal 
with  it  single-handed.  I  returned  with  a  guilty  feeling  of  blood 
upon  my  head  to  Miss  Grant,  and  told  her  what  I  had  done. 

'How  shipwreck — to  call  our  condition  shipwreck,'  said  I, 
'forces  one's  hand!  I  should  have  thought  myself  no  more 
capable  of  murdering  yonder  creature  than  of  slaughtering  an. 
OX  How  much  of  what  is  ignoble,  of  what  is  purely  anima^ 


AN  UNDERGROUND  LODGING  231 

comes  out  of  one  in  stresses  of  this  kind  1  A  man,  to  remain 
only  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  should^  be  luxuriously  fed 
and.  housed,  I  think.  His  vileness  grows  with  his  needs.  The 
nature  of  beasts  remains  the  same  in  essentials,  whether  they  be 
pursy  with  food  or  mere  ribs  with  famine.  But  bring  human 
nature  down  to  such  destitution  as  an  open  boat,  for  instance, 
expresses,  without  a  crumb  of  bread  or  a  thimbleful  of  fresh 
water,  and  how  base,  oh,  how  base  it  will  show  in  its  instincts  ! ' 
'And  all  this,'  she  exclaimed,  smiling,  'because  you  have  killed 
a  turtle !  Yet  I  dare  say  your  appreciation  of  the  god-like 
qualities  of  man  in  you  would  not  suffer  through  your  chasing 
•41  hare,  in  company  with  twenty  horsemen,  over  miles  of  ground, 
or  killing  a  long  afternoon  by  shooting  at  harmless  little 
pigeons.'  She  rose.  'It  is  too ^ late  to  provoke  you  to  an 
argument,'  she  continued  ;  '  what  is  the  time,  Mr.  Musgrave  ? ' 

I  brought  the  face  of  my  watch  to  the  moonlight.     '  Twenty 
minutes  past  twelve,'  said  L 
'  Have  you  my  pistol  1 ' 

I  had  it  in  iny  pocket.  I  loaded,  primed,  and  handed  it  to 
her ;  she  adjusted  it  in  her  belt  as  on  the  previous  night,  then 
removed  her  hat,  and  gave  me  her  hand,  as  her  manner  always, 
was  ere  retiring  to  rest.  I  pressed  my  lips  to  it  in  the  old- 
fashioned  salute,  grieved  to  the  heart  to  think  of  the  hard- 
ships that  had  befallen  this  brave  and  beautiful  girl,  and 
deeply  moved  too  by  the  pathos  I  found  in  her  uncomplaining 
acceptance  of  our  sorrowful  and  seemingly  hopeless  condition. 
When  she  was  fairly  in  her  hammock,  I  rigged  the  mosquito 
curtain  over  her,  and  turned  away  from  the  beauty  of  her  face, 
complexioned  to  marble  by  the  transparency  under  which  sht< 
lay,  with  a  feeling  that  made  me  almost  wild  at  heart  for  a  little 
with  the  sense  ot  betrayal  of  the  trust  whose  obligation,  con  • 
found  it! -grew  more  imperious  in  proportion  as  it  taxed  my 
weakness.  I  threw  a  rug  upon  the  sand,  rolled  up  a  coat  for  a. 
bolster,  saw  to  my  pistols,  threw  the  mosquito-net  over  my  head, 
and  lay  down.  This  was  our  second  night  on  the  island.  I  felt 
the  solitude  of  the  place  and  the  dismalness  and  melancholy  of 
our  look-out  far  more  keenly  than  I  had  on  the  previous  day. 
There  was  something  of  noveltv  about  our  situation  during  the 
first  few  hours  which  worked  with  a  little  quality  of  buoyancy 
in  the  spirits  ;  but  that  was  gone,  and  there  was  nothing  now 
between  the  heart  and  the  crashing  burden  of  imprisonment. 
The  fire-flies  swarmed  in  brilliant  constellations,  the  tingling 
horn  of  the  mosquito  sounded  shrill  against  my  ear,  odd  mid- 
night/notes of  dreaming  fowl  broke  into  the  silence  out  of  the 
inland  dusk,  down  upon  the  ivory  of  the  creek  side  lay  my 
slaughtered  turtle,  with  a  look  in  it  of  a  great  stain  of  ink  upon 
the  moon-whitened  sand  that  importunately  and  unpleasantly 
sent  my  thoughts  straying  away  to  the  murder  of  Mr.  Bothvvell 
and  the  ugly  blotch  on  the  cabin-floor.  The  brig,  the  mutin- 
eers, the  loss  of  Gordon  and  the  men,  Broad  water  s  mysterious 


232  MAROONED 

disappearance — why,  these  were  things  already  growing  dream- 
like, so  heavy  was  the  thrust  this  last  experience  of  ours  gave 
even  to  the  freshest  memories,  sending  the  latest  incidents  reel- 
ing back  into  a  sort  of  antiquity,  till,  on  my  oatk  it  seemed  as 
long  as  twenty  years  ago  since  we  had  embarked  on  the  Iron 
Crown  in  the  Downs.  How  were  we  going  to  escape  ?  If  we 
lifted  no  hand  to  help  ourselves,  what  was  to  become  of  us? 
Yet,  great  Heaven,  I  thought  to  myself,  mechanically  eyeing 
the  soaring  of  a  cloud  of  fire-flies  till  they  looked  to  dance  into 
the  stars  and  make  a  green  and  silver  whirlpool  of  the  firma- 
ment iust  over  my  head,  by  the  mingling  of  their  phosphor 
with  the  diamond  points  past  them,  how  is  a  man  to  deal  with 
timber  which  he  has  neither  saw  nor  chopper  to  level  it  with  ? 
What  sort  of  ark  is  he  going  to  contrive  when  he  is  as  destitute 
of  all  appliances  for  building  such  a  thing  as  he  is  of  know- 
ledge ot  what  to  do,  though  he  had  the  conveniences  of  a 
shipwright's  yard  within  hopping  distance  of  him  ? 

I  was  restless  and  hot,  and  was  in  the  act  of  sitting  up  with 
the  design  of  lifting  the  mosquito-curtain  high  enough  to  bring 
a  cigar  to  my  lips,  when  the  Dell  hidden  away  in  the  blackness 
behind  us  began  to  tolL 

4  There,  Mr.  Musgrave !  There  it  is  again ! '  cried  Miss  Grant, 
almost  hysterically,  and  in  a  breath  she  had  sprang  from  her 
hammock  and  was  alongside  of  me,  with  her  hand  on  my 
shoulder,  listening.  The  ringing  was  much  the  same  as  on  the 
night  before — first  a  slow  and  solemn  tolling,  making  one  think 
of  some  mortuary  bell  timing  the  melancholy  pacing  of  a 
funeral  winding  along  a  cyprus-shadowed  path  to  an  ugly  rent 
in  the  earth  ;  then  after  a  pause,  as  though  the  ringer  had 
halted  to  refresh  himself  with  a  drink,  a  hasty  clattering,  a 
most  alarming  clamorous  vibration ;  then  the  dirge-like  chiming 
again,  followed  on  by  all  sorts  of  beatings,  fast  and  slow. 

'Will  you  say  now?  cried  Miss  Grant,  holding  my  hand 
tightly;  '  that  there  is  no  man  there  ? ' 

'Be  it  man  or  devil,'  I  exclaimed,  'ghost  or  goblin,  it  is  a 
riddle  we  must  solve  for  our  peace'  sake.  Wait  you  here.' 

'What  do  you  mean  to  do ? '  she  cried,  still  clinging  to  me. 

'  Why,  since  it  is  impossible  to  see,  let  drive  in  the  direction 
of  the  sound  anyhow,  and  listen  for  some  squeal  to  follow,  that 
we  may  know  the  ringing  is  not  an  hallucination  ;  for  I  protest 
to  Heaven,  the  incredibility  of  such  a  thing  is  enough  to  make 
one  think  one's  self  mad  for  hearing  it.' 

She  dropped  my  hand,  and  I  walked  towards  the  trees  with 
a  pistol  in  either  fist.  She  followed  me,  however,  holding  her 
own  little  weapon,  but  the  dense  tangle,  I  knew,  would  stop  her 
presently.  I  had  no  intention  of  penetrating  the  wood  Jby  the 
road  I  had  taken  when  the  morning  shone  brilliant.  If  it  were 
dark  then,  it  would  be  blacker  than  thunder  now,  which  neces- 
sarily increased  the  astonishment  I  labouredt  under  at  hearing 
the  bell ;  for  unless  the  thing  that  rang  it  lived  within  a  pace 


AN  UNDERGROUND  LODGING  233 

of  it>  its  power^of  being  able  t^find  it  amid  that  blackness 
was  as  astonishing  as  the  sound  itself.  Yet  all  this  while  the 
chimes  continued.  Whatever  the  ringer  might  be,  its  mood 
seemed  merrier  on  this  than  on  the  last  night  It  rang  heartily, 
with  a  curious  suggestion  of  enjoyment  in  the  sound  produced. 
The  disturbed  birds  sent  a  hundred  remonstrant  cries,  yells,  and 
whistlings  from  the  trees,  which  apparently  merely  increased 
the  appetite  of  the  ringer  for  his  lalbour,  for  'tis  not  in  mortal 
pen  to  express  the  preternatural  wildness,  melancholy,  and  I 
may  Bay  horror,  of  the  sound  of  that  secret  ringing  echoing 
through  the  island  out  of  the  central  midnight  fastness,  and 
dying  away  in  ghostly  tones  far  out  upon  the  silent  sna.  I  was 
as  angry  as  I  was  bewildered.  The  character  of  the  sound 
staggered  my  doubts  of  there  being  a  man  there.  It  seemed 
impossible  that  anything  but  a  human  hand  should  produce 
such  noise.  Closely  followed  by  my  companion,  I  skirted  the 
trees  to  that  thin  scattering  of  them  whence  I  had  emerged 
after  my  morning's  hunt,  and  where  I  had  tripped  over  the 
ring  in  the  sand.  Methought  from  ^this  point  I  could  better 
collect  the  bearings  of  the  belL  Miss  Grant  soon  came  to  a 
stand.  Her  clothing  rendered  the  growth  impenetrable  by  her. 

'  Oh,  if  I  were  only  dressed  as  you  are,  Mr.  Musgrave  1 '  she 
exclaimed,  in  a  voice  so  charged  witli  bitter  vexation  that  it 
was  almost  like  hearing  her  sob.  '  Do  not  venture  too  far.  Be 
cautious,  for  my  sake.  What  shall  I  do  if  I  am  left  alone  here  1 ' 

'I  will  not  go  far,'  said  I;  'stand  you  in  this  black  shadow. 
In  the  haze  of  the  moon  you  will  be  able  to  see  anything  that 
may  run  this  way.  Let  fly  at  it,  will  you,  should  it  come. 
Only  please  take  care  not  to  shoot  me.' 

With  that  I  left  her,  and  drove  with  trudging  steps  through 
the  coarse  wiry  undergrowth,  helped  somewhat  by  recollection 
of  the  road  I  had  taken  in  the  morning,  and  aided  also  by  the 
sound  of  the  bell.  From  the  whole  area  of  the  island  the  concert 
of  the  crickets  rose  in  a  volume  of  chirruping ;  the  croaking  of 
the  frogs  was  distracting ;  everything  seemed  awake,  and 
nothing  could  be  imagined  more  confounding  than  this  sweep 
of  multitudinous  noise,  closing  to  one's  very  ear  as  it  seemed 
with  the  notes  of  unseen  things  crying  out  of  the  grass  upon 
which  one  trod,  and  from  the  near  hidden  trunks  of  trees,  and 
the  stoop  of  the  dusky  boughs  overhead. 

However,  I  had  not  advanced  fifty  paces  when  I  found  further 
progress  impossible.  There  was  no  question,  however,  that  the 
chimes  came  from  the  bell  I  had  inspected  in  the  morning,  so  I 
levelled  a  pistol  at  the  blackness  in  the  direction  whence  the 
sounds  were  coining,  and  fired.  The  trees  all  about  me  glanced 
out  yellowly  to  the  flame ;  the  bell  instantly  ceased ;  but  one  had 
to  listen  to  make  sure,  so  deafening  was  the  noise  among  the 
branches  of  the  terrified  creatures  roosting  up  there.  I  levelled  a 
second  pistol,  and  fired  again,  with  a  renewal  of  the  distracting 
outbreak  overhead,  rolling  in  a  wave  of  discordant  uproar,  so  wild 


234  MAIiOONKD 

with  intermingling  of  tropic  throats,  with  single  near  yefls. 
groans,  snores,  gasps,  and  pipings,  following  as  it  were  in  the  wake 
of  the  rushing  clamour,  that  the  effect  upon  the  hearing  denes 
language.  I  waited  a  little,  eagerly  hearkening.  The  ringing 
had  ended.  The  forest  noises  died  away,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
you  heard  nothing  but  the  familiar  croakings  and  chirrupings. 
chiefly  out  in  the  open.  There  were  too  many  trees  in  the  roacf 
to  render  it  likely  I  had  hit  the  ringer  ;  indeed  I  had  not  fired 
with  that  idea.  But  I  thought  that  whatever  it  was  that  rang 
the  bell  might  come  sneakmgly  my  way,  and  I  strained  my 
hearing  for  any  sound  resembling  the  rustling  of  the  coarse 
growth  pressed  by  the  foot ;  but  nothing  of  the  sort  was  audible, 
so  I  returned  to  Miss  Grant,  and  walked  with  her  back  to  where 
the  hammock  was. 

Well,  it  was  a  mystery  not  to  be  solved  by  wondering  at  it.  I 
own  I  slept  but  little  that  night  through  thinking  of  it,  whilst 
Miss  Grant  next  morning  confessed  that  she  had  not  closed  her 
eyes. 

CHAPTER  XXTO 

I  SHOOT  THE  BELL-RINGEB 

INDEED,  this  mysterious  midnight  bell-ringing  was  a  puzzle 
that  presently  threatened  to  render  the  island  solitude  desper- 
ately uncomfortable  whilst  the  sun  was  up,  and  absolutely 
hideous  when  he  had  gone  down.  It  was  time  it  was  dealt 
with  some  way  or  other.  A  few  more  such  nights  as  the  two 
we  had  passed  might  play  havoc  with  Miss  Grant's  nerves ; 
and  our  loneliness  ana  helplessness  were  already  so  extreme 
that  one  felt  it  might  presently  go  hard  with  one's  brain  if  the 
paralyzing  conditions  of  being  marooned  were  to  be  supple- 
mented by  an  element  of  mystery  nicely  calculated  to  nnish 
off  in  the  intellect  the  work  which  grief,  suffering,  and  despair 
had  begun. 

So  when  the  morning  came  I  slipped  away  for  a  plunge,  feel- 
ing the  need  of  a  refreshment  of  that  kind,  after  lying  long  in 
my  clothes  upon  the  powdery  dust  of  my  sandy  couch ;  then 
returning,  and  asking  Miss  Grant  to  spread  a  little  breakfast 
for  us  meanwhile,  I  clapped  my  pistols  into  my  pocket,  and 
plunged  into  the  wood.  I  steered  a  pretty  straight  course  for 
the  bell,  looking  earnestly  about  me  as  I  thrust  my  way  along  : 
and  when  I  arrived  at  it,  I  stood  surveying  it  for  several 
minutes,  wondering  if  the  problem  of  the  ringing  was  to  be 
solved  by  an  explanation  that  should  be  ridiculous  for  its 
simplicity  when  hit  upon.  But  not  the  ghost  of  a  solution 
offered.  No  '}  some  hand — man's,  beast's,  or  ghost's — must  have 
rung  the  thing.  I  touched  it,  and  it  swung  so  heavily  and 
stiffly  that  it  was  impossible  any  bird,  even  the  biggest  on  the 
island,  alighting,  could  have  swayed  it  to  the  emission  of  a 


I  SHOOT  THE  BELL-RINGER  £;;.5 

single  chime.  I  peered  curiously  at  the  adjacent  trees,  but 
•witnessed  no  sort  of  hollow  in  wliich  anything  of  bulk  could 
hide  itself.  I  stared  searchingly  round  for  mark  of  human  or 
any  other  tread,  for  hint  of  subterranean  habitation,  for  any 
sign,  in  short,  to  resolve  me  this  bewildering  mystery  ;  but  the 
scene,  to  as  far  as  I  could  see,  was  as  bare  of  such  suggestion  as 
I  sought  as  the  bell  itself.  I  considered  for  a  minute  whether 
I  should  return  for  a  musket  and  beat  down  the  green  and 
mouldering  frame,  but  on  peering  close  at  the  bell  I  observed 
that  it  was  suspended  to  an  iron  hook  in  the  gallows-like  beam. 
This  gave  me  an  idea,  and  putting  my  hands  to  the  bell  I  lifted 
it  off  its  hook  and  placed  it  upon  the  ground.  'Twas  a  tolerably 
heavy  piece  of  metal,  though  not  BO  weighty  but  that  I  could 
easily  carry  it.  There  has  been  so  little  change  for  centuries 
in  the  fashion  of  bells,  that  no  man  could  have  told  how  old  this 
one  was  by  the  look  of  it.  No  doubt  I  was  right  in  reckoning 
it  to  have  been  a  ship's  bell.  Its  sonorous  notes  may  have 
been  reverberated  in  its  time  by  the  long-ago-vanished  timbers 
of  a  carrack,  or  some  tall  ship  belonging  to  old  Spain  or  England. 

I  was  forgetting  it  lie,  but  thought,  no!  for  the  thing  that 
hammered  it  last  night  may  have  sense  enough  to  sling  it 
afresh  and  worry  us  as  before ;  so  I  seized  hold  of  it  and 
succeeded  in  staggering  with  it  painfully  out  of  the  wood,  the 
thing  occasionally  tolling  in  a  very  melancholy  way  to  the  sway- 
ing of  my  figure  as  I  lurched  through  the  knee-high  tangle.  I 
succeeded  in  lugging  it  to  where  our  luggage  was,  and  sat  down 
hot  as  fire  and  pretty  nearly  spent. 

'There,'  said  I,  'if  the  bell-ringer  has  a  mind  to  enjoy  himself 
to-night,  he'll  have  to  show  himself,  and  if  he  does  I'll  pot  him, 
if  I  never  forgive  myself  for  his  murder  afterwards.' 

'  One  wants  to  know  the  cause,'  she  returned,  peering  at  the 
bell  much  as  she  had  at  the  mattress  when  I  told  her  I  believed 
it  moved  ;  'this  is  the  effect  only.  The  mystery  will  remain  the 
same  although  the  bell  may  not  ring.' 

'May  not!  Should  there  be  any  further  ringing  to-night,' 
said  I.  'I  vow  to  steadfastly  believe  in  ghosts  for  the  rest  of 
my  lire.  As  for  the  mystery,  what  we  want  is  to  be  able  to 
sleep  when  we  lie  down.  It  will  be  nothing  to  me  what  made 
the  noise,  providing  we  don't  hear  it.  Of  course  the  puzzle  is  a 
supreme  one.  but  that  need  not  signify.  We  shall  be  sailing 
away  before  long,  please  God,  and  it  will  be  something  for  us  to 
be  able  to  boast  about  in  such  an  age  as  this,  that  the  villains 
of  the  Iron  Crown  marooned  us  on  an  enchanted  island.' 

She  looked  pale  and  worn,  her  eyes  were  listless,  but  this 
might  have  been  owing  to  want  of  sleep,  and  to  the  harassment 
of  fretful  semi-superstitious  thoughts  ;  yet  the  set  of  her  beauti- 
ful mouth  showed  a  spirit  of  resolution  staunch  in  her  still. 
The  refreshment  that  was  to  be  obtained  by  privacy  I  felt 
would  help  her,  and  I  resolved  to  devote  the  morning  to  con- 
veying her  luggage  to  the  inner  chamber,  to  suspending  her 


236  MAROONED 

hammock,  and  to  isolating  the  little  room  by  draping  the  door 
that  led  to  it.  Speaking  from  experience,  I  know  that  the 
misery  of  such  a  situation  as  ours  is  to  be  lightened  not  a  little 
by  the  comfort  of  a  shift  of  garments,  by  a  plunge  in  the  blue 
water,  and  the  like.  Robinson  Crusoe  dwells  at  large  upon  the 
sweetness  of  the  feel  of  a  clean  shirt.  It  looks  but  a  light 
stroke,  yet  it  is  as  deep  a  touch  in  its  way  as  any  of  the  best  of 
the  others  in  which  Defoe's  marvellous  romance  abounds. 

After  breakfast  I  climbed  with  her  to  the  summit  of  the  little 
hill  It  was  all  bare  sapphire  sea,  streaked  here  and  there 
with  long  shining  curves  like  a  running  of  quicksilver  on  the 
surface.  The  sky  was  brilliantly  blue  and  cloudless,  the  wind 
a  faint,  parched  draught  from  the  north-east ;  the  bite  of  the 
sun  upon  the  exposed  flesh  was  as  though  his  beam  touched  the 
skin  through  a  burning-glass.  It  was  insupportable,  and  we 
descended  the  hummock,  my  companion  pale  and  silent,  I  sick 
at  heart ;  for  though  I  had  not  dared  hope  to  see  anything,  yet 
the  fulfilment  of  such  an  expectation  as  this  brings  a  mgo  and 
grief  with  it,  as  of  madness  almost,  with  every  recurrence,  though 
you  should  look  for  a  ship  fifty  times  a  day,  and  always  be  sure 
in  your  soul  before  lifting  your  eyes  that  you  will  see  nothing. 

*  Can  it  be  possible,'  exclaimed  Miss  Grant, '  that  no  ship  ever 
passes  within  sight  of  this  island  ? ' 

*  Don't  let  us  think  that,'  said  I,  'for  a  long  time  yet,  at  all 
events.    We  only  came  ashore  here  the  day  before  yesterday. 
The  speck  that  floated  last  night  on  the  rim  of  the  moonlight 
might  have  been  a  sail.    This  island  lies  very  low,  and  there  is 
plenty  of  ocean  beyond  the  line  of  it  all  round  us,  so  that  a 
vessel  might  be  within  four  or  five  leagues  of  us  without  seeing 
this  Cay  or  we  her.' 

*  But  there  is  land  down  in  the  west,  Mr.  Musgravet* 

'Yes,  the  film  of  it,  so  the  men  said,  was  visible  from  the  Iron 
Crmm's  cross-trees.' 

'Then,'  said  she,  'that  stretch  of  water  yonder  must  be  a 
passage  between  this  island  and  the  land  there ;  so  that  a  sail 
ought  to  be  visible  now  and  again.' 

'The  mischief  lies,'  cried  I,  'in  my  not  knowing  where  we 
are.  Those  days  of  thick  weather,  with  a  head  wind  and  some 
sort  of  current  of  which  I  knew  nothing,  threw  me  all  adrift ; 
not  to  mention  old  Broadwater's  chronometer,  which  in  my 
opinion  just  ticked  close  enough  to  Greenwich  time  to  tell  him 
when  the  hour  for  another  glass  of  grog  had  come  round.  Of 
course,  this  island  is  one  of  the  Bahamas.  There  is  sure  to  be 
shipping  hereabouts,  making  for  the  West  Indies,  or  the  Panama 
or  Mexican  sea-boards,  or  steering  eastwards  for  European 
ports.  We  must  be  content  to  go  on  waiting  and  hoping.  We 
nave  the  materials  ready  stocked  for  a  great  smoke,  and  who 
knows  but  that  before  even  sundown  to-day  we  may  be  safe  on 
board  some  craft,  bound  to  a  port  whence  we  may  easily  mak*» 
our  way  to  Rio  ? ' 


t  SHOOT  THE  BELL-KING  EH  23? 

Tliis  was  »  fancy  to  put  a  little  light  into  her  face.  'I 
suppose,'  she  exclaimed  suddenly,  with  a  slanting  glance  at  me 
as  though  she  could  not  summon  courage  to  look  at  me  fully, 
'you  would  never  again  undertake  to  escort  a  girl  to  her 
sweetheart  ? ' 

'  Why  should  1 1 '  I  answered,  wondering  at  the  meaning  of 
the  very  faint  smile  that  hovered  airily  as  a  shadow  about  the 
beauty  of  her  lips.  '  It  is  thankless  work,  after  all* 

'  Indeed,  you  may  say  that,'  she  exclaimed. 

'  Oh,  understand  me.  I  don't  mind  the  horrors  of  a  mutineer- 
ing  experience,  or  of  being  marooned.  No,  there  may  be  a 
companionship  sweet  enough  to  neutralize  the  direst  conditions. 
I  mean,  'tis  going  through  a  very  great  deal,  you  know,  to 
oblige  another.' 

'  Poor  dear  Alexander,'  she  cried, '  he  vn&feel  obliged,  I  know  ; 
at  least — '  she  paused  suddenly  with  a  reining  in  of  her  speech 
that  made  her  cheeks  flush  somewhat  to  the  effort.  She 
struggled  with  an  instant's  confusion  of  mind,  and  then  asked 
me  calmly  what  I  proposed  to  do  that  day,  and  what  help  she 
could  be  to  me,  but  I  saw  in  her  eyes  that  she  was  still  under 
the  surprise  of  the  thought  whose  utterance  she  had  narrowly 
arrested.  I  could  have  sworn  that  she  had  only  just  saved  her- 
self from  saying  something  which  she  would  rather  have  bitten 
her  tongue  in  halves  than  express.  I  looked  at  her  again  for  a 
moment  or  two  before  answering  ;  she  was  gazing  seawards,  as 
though  the  question  she  had  this  instant  put  was  gone  from 
her  memory.  Something  in  her  manner — a  subtlety  as  indeter- 
minable as  the  aromas  floating  into  the  hot  still  air  out  of  the 
hearts  of  the  thousand  secret  and  nameless  flowers  scattered 
throughout  the  island — quickened  my  breathing,  till  I  broke 
with  a  start  from  a  fancy  that  might  nave  held  me  profoundly 
meditative  for  the  rest  of  the  day,  and  told  her  what  I  meant 
to  do. 

'But  is  there  nothing  for  met'  she  inquired,  bringing  her 
eyes  to  mine,  though  I  seemed  to  miss  the  peculiar,  familiar 
steadfastness  that  1  had  again  and  again  found  as  fascinating 
as  it  was  perplexing. 

'  Can  you  cook,  Miss  Grant  ? ' 

She  elapsed  her  hands,  sunk  her  head  with  a  little  shake  of  it, 
and  said,  *  Not  nicely,  I  tear.' 

I  said, '  You  will  not  mind  trying  your  hand  at  a  dish  of  turtle- 
soup?' 

'How  is  it  made?' 

'Why,'  said  I,  'by  boiling  the  meat,  I  suppose.  It  will  be 
something  to  do.  Then  there  are  those  craw-fish.  I'll  make  a 


start  by  lighting  the  kitchen  fire.' 
I  forthwith  fell 


to  work  to  collect  a  quantity  of  wood,  which 
I  carried  to  the  furnace,  where  it  was  soon  blazing  merrily,  with 
the  thin  blue  smoke  of  it  passing  fairly  out  through  the  skylights, 
which  I  took  care  to  open  to  their  fullest  extent ;  so  that  though 


238  MAROONED 

at  the  start  the  smoke  set  me  coughing  a  bit,  the  atmosphere  all 
round  the  spiral  volume  was  presently  clear  enough  to  enable 
me  to  breathe  without  inconvenience.  Indeed,  I  learnt  from 
this  subterranean  kitchen  how  our  forefathers  had  managed 
without  chimneys,  a  matter  that  must  have  puzzled  me  all  my 
life  had  I  not  observed  how  this  smoke  going  straight  and  clean 
to  the  roof  formed  a  cloud  there^that  drained  away  through  the 
skylight  as  cleverly  as  if  its  vehicle  had  been  a  smoke-stack.  I 
then  filled  the  vessels  we  had  discovered  in  the  cave  with  fresh 
water,  and  put  on  a  big  _saucepanful  to  boil.  'Twas  roasting 
work,  what  with  the  fire  inside  and  the  sun  out,  and  I  had  to 
strip  to  my  shirt  and  trousers,  with  a  big  straw  hat  for  the  pro- 
tection of  my  head,  though  there  were  several  times  even  then 
when  I  came  very  near  to  fainting.  Meanwhile,  to  make  sure 
of  something  to  eat,  I  popped  half-a-dozen  of  the  craw-fish  into 
the  saucepan,  and  then  knife  in  hand  went  down  to  the  turtle  ; 
but  was  a  very  long  while  indeed  coming  at  the  inside  of  it.  It 
was  like  jobbing  at  a  man  in  armour;  but  the  secret  dawned 
upon  me  after  many  experiments,  though  I  confess  I  never  fell 
to  any  work  that  was  more  distasteful  to  me  in  my  life.  That 
the  sun  might  not  corrupt  my  turtle,  I  dragged  it  at  the  expense 
of  many  groans  and  much  perspiration  to  the  entrance  of  the 
underground  rooms,  down  which  I  tumbled  with  it  as  though 
marooning  had  converted  me  into  a  sort  of  ant ;  and  indeed  I 
felt  like  one,  I  can  assure  you,  as  I  painfully  dragged  my  prey 
to  the  hole  and  staggered  with  it  into  subterranean  gloom. 

I  see  now  with  the  eye  of  memory  the  stately  and  beautiful 
figure  of  Miss  Grant  stepping  from  the  furnace,  as  I  call  it, 
after  a  peep  at  the  humming  saucepan,  to  the  short  length  of 
passage  for  the  cool  of  the  shadow,  though  there  was  no  breath 
of  air  to  descend.  I  had  left  her  at  work  when  I  went  on  one 
of  my  errands  to  the  brook,  or  to  the  turtle,  habited  in  her  long 
dress,  the  clinging  folds  of  which,  with  a  yard-long  measure  of 
it  trailing  astern,  I  saw  must  bother  her  presently,  and  I  looked 
forward  to  the  pleasure  of  helping  her  pin  her  gown  clear  of 
her  feet :  but  on  my  return  I  found  that  she  had  divested  her- 
self of  the  dress,  and  that  her  attire  now  was  an  under-skirt  of 
brilliant  hues.  I  imagined  she  had  changed  her  gown,  so 
ignorant  was  I  of  the  mysteries  of  ladies'  apparel,  and  thought 
that  never  could  any  sort  of  female  garb  more  gracefully 
harmonize  with  any  particular  kind  of  beauty  than  did  this 
short,  richly-coloured  frock,  as  I  supposed  it,  with  the  fine  form 
of  Miss  Grant.  I've  heard  it  said  that  the  Spanish  are  the 
only  ladies  in  the  world  who  can  walk  ;  all  others  waddle,  glide, 
amble,  do  anything  in  short  but  step  with  a  proper  sort  of 

frace.    I  might  believe  this  after  recalling  the  gait  of  the  ladies 
have  known,  and  contrasting  them  with  Miss  Aurelia's — 
another  maternal  legacy,  no  doubt,  as  I  might  suppose  now 
that  there  was  sufficient  disclosure  of  her  movements  to  enable 
me  to  appreciate  the  perfection  of  their  freedom  and  their 


I  SHOOT  THE  BELL-RINGER  239 

inimitable,  easy,  gentle  dignity.  She  had  removed  her  hat ; 
the  furnace  flames  tinctured  her  soft  hair  with  their  yellow 
hue  ;  and  in  the  subdued  shadowing:  of  the  room  her  eyes  looked 
to  have  recovered  their  earlier  brilliance.  Her  arms  were  bare 
to  the  elbow — limbs  of  moulded  ivory.  I  stood  at  gaze  for 
some  moments,  as  startled  by  this  new  revelation  of  her  charms 
as  I  had  been  on  the  day  when  I  had  first  met  her.  I  know  this 
dwelling  upon  a  girl's  perfections  in  the  face  of  the  acres  of 
paper  which  have  been  covered  again  and  again  with  like 
accounts  is  but  poor  work,  and  can  but  make  tiresome  read- 
ing ;  but  one  is  not  often  marooned  with  such  a  woman  as 
Aurelia  Grant,  and  seeing  even  then  how  it  was  with  me  in  my 
thoughts  of  her,  I  ought  to  be  forgiven  for  this  trick  of  pulling 
out  her  likeness,  and  asking  you  just  to  look  at  it  once  more. 

By  noon  I  had  managed  to  transport  the  luggage  to  our 
underground  home,  lightening  the  burthen  of  the  larger  boxes 
by  conveying  parcels  and  bundles  of  their  contents  in  my  arms. 
I  also  took  care  to  bring  the  bell  along  and  place  it  in  the 
kitchen,  on  the  left  of  the  entrance,  where  it  was  out  of  the 
road ;  and  it  will  be  strange,  thought  I,  as  I  gave  it  a  bene- 
dictory kick,  if  anything  resembling  this  blessed  thing  torments 
us  again  to-night.  My  next  business  was  to  drape  the  entrance 
of  the  room  that  Miss  Grant  was  to  occupy.  I  had  slung  her 
hammock,  spread  rugs  to  serve  as  a  carpet,  and  put  a  couple  of 
high-backed  chairs  into  the  apartment  ;  so  that  with  the  boxes 
convenient  to  her  hand,  and  the  sunshine  streaming  fair  upon 
the  skylight,  and  flooding  the  atmosphere  with  its  radiance, 
whilst  the  tropic  perfumes  floating  heavy  and  languid  above 
came  sifting  down  to  sweeten  the  air,  as  though  you  should 
have  wafted  a  nosegay  of  flowers  there,  the  odd,  earthy  chamber 
looked  positively  nabitable.  The  entrance  was  low,  and  a 
single  shawl  effectually  served  as  a  curtain. 

'Yonder  turtle-shell/  said  I,  pointing  to  the  creature  I  had 
killed,  *when  cleaned  out  and  purified  will  make  an  excellent 
hand-basin.  You  have  a  looking-glass,  and  all  other  toilet  re- 
quisites, as  the  hairdressers  call  the  things.  As  matters  are. 
Miss  Grant,  we  might  >  be  worse  ofil  Better  surely  this  root 
than  the  two  trees  twixt  which  your  hammock  swung.  Con- 
fess now  that  you  have  no  longer  any  reluctance  in  taking  up 
your  abode  here?' 

She  smiled,  casting  her  eyes  over  the  room  with  a  glance  at 
the  skylight ;  and  I  observed  the  tremble  of  just  a  little  falter- 
ing 01  resolution,  so  to  speak,  in  the  delicate  pout  of  her 
under-lip. 

*  I  have  one  small  misgiving,'  she  answered. 

4  What  is  it  t'  I  asked. 

'Suppose  there  should  be  a  man  on  this  island.' 

•Well?' 

4  Von  don't  believe  there  is :  but  somebody  must  have  rung 
the  boll.' 


240  MAROONED 

'And  supposing  there  should  be  a  man  t '  said  L 

She  shot  another  glance  at  the  skylight,  and  answered,  'He 
might  shut  us  up  down  here.' 

4 How?' I  asked. 

'Why,  Mr.  Musgrave,  by  closing  the  skylights,  and  covering 
them  with  sand,  and  then  putting  the  cover  on  to  the  opening, 
and  piling  sand  on  that  too.' 

'  Well,'  said  I,  smiling,  for  my  mind  had  long  since  got  rid  of 
the  fancy  that  there  might  be  a  man  somewhere  hidden,  though, 
as  I  admit,  the  midnight  ringing  was  all  the  darker  as  a  puzzle 
to  me  for  that  very  notion, '  there  is  but  one  way  of  checkmating 
the  skulking  rogue,  assuming  him  to  be  of  flesn  and  blood,  and 
I'll  attend  to  it  immediately  lest  it  should  escape  me,  and 
mounting  to  the  open,  armed  with  one  of  the  old  muskets,  I 
hammered  at  the  hatch-cover  until  it  lay  before  me  in  several 
pieces.  These  I  carried  one  by  one  below,  for  the  hatch  was  not 
to  have  been  squeezed  through  the  opening  in  its  entirety,  and 
stowed  the  fragments  hard  by  the  belL  Now,'  said  I,  'your 
friend  the  ringer  may  indeed  close  the  skylights-but  it  will  put 
him  to  his  trumps  to  cover  that  entrance.  Think — there  is 
nothing  on  the  island  that  would  serve  him  for  such  a  purpose, 
unless  he  should  cut  down  a  tree,  and  whittle  out  a  balk  of  it 
as  a  cork  for  that  mouth.  No,  Miss  Grant,  little  risk  I  think  of 
our  being  buried  alive.' 

My  talk  and  the  knocking  to  pieces  of  the  hatch-cover  re- 
assured her,  and  as  we  might  hope  now  that  our  turtle-broth 
had  been  boiling  long  enough,  we  prepared  the  little  rustic  table 
for  dinner,  and  put  on  it  a  bottle  of  wine,  a  few  biscuits,  the 
remains  of  a  tin  of  meat,  the  cooked  craw-fish,  along  with  a  big 
bunch  of  plantains  I  haa  cut  after  bathing.  But  alas !  we  had 
but  one  knife  between  us,  no  forks,  spoons,  nor  plates.  How 
then  were  we  to  ladle  up  the  soup  I  Hitherto  we  had  eaten 
with  our  fingers,  and  drunk  from  a  meat  tin ;  but  the  broth 
demanded  an  effort  of  ingenuity. 

'I  have  it,'  I  exclaimed,  and  stepping  into  the  sunshine  I 
made  my  way  to  the  beach,  where,  collecting  an  armful  of 
shells,  big  and  little,  I  carried  them  to  the  brook,  thoroughly 
cleansed  them  of  the  sand  and  salt,  and  returned  with  them  to 
the  kitchen.  Better  soup-plates  than  the  large  shells  made  we 
could  not  have  desired,  and  the  smaller  shells  made  excellent 
spoons.  How  the  soup  relished  it  boots  not  to  say.  Wanting 
salt,  herbs,  and  the  like,  it  lacked  perhaps  the  savouriness 
that  a  City  Alderman  is  accustomed  to  meet  with  in  a  potage 
of  turtle,  but  the  meat  proved  juicy,  and  the  liquor  grateful 
enough  in  its  way,  and  though,  to  be  sure,  it  was  a  sort  of 
mess  that  I  could  not  look  at  now,  I  swallowed  it  then  with 
enjoyment  and  appetite,  giving  secret  thanks  to  Heaven  that 
there  was  plenty  more  or  it. 

It  is  quite  likely  that  any  Jack  coming  ashore  to  peer  about, 
discovering  these  underground  rooms,  and  looking  down  into 


I  SHOOT  THE  BELL-RINGEB  241 

them,  might  have  taken  Miss  Grant  and  myself  for  a  corsair 
and  his  ieman.  The  rich  dyes  of  her  petticoat  made  her 
apparel  ^romantic  to  the  eye,  and  the  poetic  suggestiveness  of 
her  attire  was  heightened  yet  by  the  free  graces  of  her 
roughened  hair,  and  her  fair  and  most  shapely  arms  bare  to 
the  elbow.  I,  habited  in  shirt  and  trousers,  needed  but  a  red 
sash  round  about  my  loins  to  present  a  very  fair  copy  of  a 
pirate.  It  was  entirely  in  keeping  too^  that  we  should  appear 
as  though  we  were  feasting,  and  the  picture  would  have  been 
faithful  enough,  I  doubt  not,  to  the  liveliest  imagination,  of  a 
piratical  lair,  coloured  as  it  was  with  details  of  aged  muskets 
.and  cutlasses,  the  venerable  cooking  intensils,  the  two  century - 
old^  chairs,  the  queer,  aged,  straddling  table  at  which  we  sat, 
if,  instead  of  lifting  shells  to  our  lips,  my  lovely  companion 
and  I  had  been  able  to  pledge  each  other  in  cool  sparkling 
draughts  from  richly-chased  goblets  of  precious  metal.  In 
truth,  what  the  picture  wanted  to  complete  it  was  a  hint  of 
plunder.  Miss  Grant's  sparkling  rings  were  but  a  meagre 
intimation  in  that  way.  You  would  have  looked  for  a  golden 
candle-stick  or  two,  a  silver  crucifix,  a  sack  in  a  corner  bulged 
into  a  glittering  yawn  at  the  mouth  by  the  pieces  of  eight 
which  filled  it. 

'  This  is  a  sort  of  experience,^  said  I, '  which  a  man  should  need 
to  be  very  young  indeed  to  enjoy.  One  should  be  quite  a  little 
boy  to  think  it  fine.  Yet  I  am  realizing  the  dreams  of  millions 
of  small  lads.  To  think  of  being  all  alone  with  a  beautiful  lady 
upon  an  uninhabited  island — to  live  in  a  cave  that  in  bygone 
years  resounded  the  revelry  of  the  sea-robbers  again  and  again 
— to  have  within  arm's-reach  several  of  the  exact  sort  of  muskets 
which  Crusoe  carried  on  his  shoulder — to  live  upon  turtle  and 
plantains,  with  the  delightful  prospect  of  having  some  day  to  fell 
a  tree  and  scoop  out  a  canoe — oh !  the  bliss  to  countless  small 
boys  of  such  realization !  What  spasms  of  envy  would  thrill 
through  the  schools  of  Great  Britain  were  the  young  friends 
of  the  old  Whackums  to  learn  that  at  this  moment  there  was  a 
young  gentleman  in  company  with  a  young  lady  living  in  a 
pirate's  cave  in  an  island  hard  by  the  Spanish  Mam.' 

*  I  am  afraid  school-boys  would  not  envy  you  quite  so  much 
as  you  think,'  said  she ;  '  they  do  not  greatly  value  ladies' 
society  either  in  books  or  in  life.    To  be  cast  away  with  a 
beautiful  female — to  be  marooned  even  with  a  lovely  princess, 
and  live  all  alone  with  her  in  a  cave — '    She  shook  her  head, 
laughing  quietly.    'No,  Mr.  Musgrave,  if  I  know  boys  at  all, 
they  would  not  thank  you  for  such  an  experience.    Give  them 
guns  and  canoes  and  pirates'  caves,  with  plenty  of  oranges  j  but 
no  girls,  if  you  please.' 

*  It  is  strange  that  little  boys  should  ever  make  men,'  said  I, 
going  to  my  coat  for  a  cheroot.    'I  am  not  very  old  myself, 
yet  I  find  it  difficult  to  believe  that  I  could  ever  have  been 
younger  than  sixteen.    Would  to  Heaven  that  the  light  and 

B 


242  .MAROONED 

colour  and  fancy  of  childhood  attended  us  to  the  end !  Tis 
miserable  to  have  to  sail  out  of  a  glowing  horizon  into  the  gray 
of  the  middle  sea,  and  thence  onwards  yet  to  gloom.  It  is 
Byron,  I  think,  who  asks  who  would  not  be  a  boy  again.  Not 
I,  for  one,  unless  I  could  remain  so.  If  a  man  has  to  turn  out, 
it  is  better  he  should  get  up  at  once  and  have  done  with  it.  I 
love  a  sweet  dream  as  fondly  as  any,  but  since  the  awakening 
is  inevitable,  don't  delay  it,  say  I  j  and  then  let  the  vision 
pass  away  for  good.  Who  would  live  again  through  a  mere 
phantasy,  knowing  it  to  be  such  ?  For  those  who  incline  that 
way  we  build  lunatic  asylums.  No,  I  wouldn't  be  a  boy  again. 
The  opening  of  one's  eyes  upon  the  reality  don't  make  it  worth 
while,  as  the  tailor  says  when  you  offer  him  less  for  his  coat 
than  he  can  cut  it  for. 

She  listened  to  me  with  her  cheek  resting  in  her  hand,  her 
figure  inclined,  the  swell  of  it  methought  gathering  a  particular 
beauty  from  the  white  of  the  arm  on  which  her  head  reposed, 
her  dark  eyes  fixed  on  mine  with  a  hint  of  mingled  merriment 
and  puzzled  inquiry  in  their  serene  scrutiny.  But  when  I 
ceased  she  changed  her  posture,  removed  her  eyes,  and  with  a 
careless  look  around,  said  almost  abruptly,  as  though  the  shift 
of  mood  in  her  was  an  effort  rather  than  unconscious  transition, 
'  How  are  we  to  get  away  from  this  island,  Mr.  Musgrave  ?  You 
have  been  a  sailor — is  there  no  remedy  for  people  in  our  situa- 
tion ?  I  wonder  what  Alexander  would  suggest  if  he  were  here.' 

I  lighted  my  cheroot  stolidly.  There  seemed  to  me  something 
insincere,  though  I  protest  I  don't  know  why  I  should  have 
thought  so,  in  her  speaking  of  my  cousin  at  that  moment.  I 
eyed  her  in  silence  a  minute,  and  then  said,  'I  believe  if 
Alexander  were  here  he  would  take  my  view  of  our  condition. 
There  are  plenty  of  trees,  but  we  have  no  tools.  Had  we  a 
chopper  we  might  fell  a  trunk,  and  in  the  course  of  months, 
perhaps  of  years,  succeed  in  hacking  and  hewing  the  timber 
into  the  aspect  of  a  canoe.  But  then  how  to  launch  it?  The 
trunk  of  a  tree,  even  when  shaped  into  a  canoe,  is  not  to  be 
whipped  under  the  arm  as  though  it  were  the  model  of  a  boat, 
and  cai'ried  to  the  water.  I  think  if  Alexander  were  here,  Miss 
Grant,  he  would  agree  with  me,  that  pur  one  chance  lies  in  our 
making  our  presence  known  to  a  passing  vessel ;  which  reminds 
me,'  said  I,  rising  and  looking  at  my  watch,  '  that  it  is  about 
time!  should  take  a  peep  sea  wards,  for  it  will  be  some  hours 
now  since  I  visited  the  hummock.'  I  was  walking  to  the  steps. 
'You  do  not  ask  me  to  join  you,'  said  she.  I  turned  and  noted 
a  look  in  her,  half  wistful,  half  amused. 

'Do  pray  join  me,'  I  cried  ;  'I  was  afraid  that  the  heat — ' 

*  No,  she  interrupted  ;  'I  expect  there  will  be  nothing  to  see.* 
I  smiled  at  the  coquettish  feigning  of  gentle  resentment  in  her 
manner  of  drawing  aside  the  shawl  that  screened  her  room. 
She  disappeared,  closing  the  drapery  afresh,  and  I  climbed 
through  the  opening  into  the  sunshine. 


I  SHOOT  THE  BELL-RINGER  2tt 

My  hat  was  wide-brimmed  like  that  of  a  southern  planter.  It 
sheltered  me  as  effectually  as  an  umbrella,  and  under  the 
shadow  of  it  I  paced  leisurely  towards  the  hummock,  but  puff- 
ing perhaps  with  unnecessary  energy  at  my  cigar,  to  certain 
thoughts  of  Miss  Grant  which  rose  in  me  as  I  advanced.  '  Pooh  ! ' 
thought  I,  '  what  a  madman  must  I  be,  situated  as  we  are,  to 
think  of  anything  under  this  wide  blue  sky  but  our  deliverance, 
and  how  to  effect  it ! ' 

It  chanced  just  then  that,  my  eyes  happening  to  turn  towards 
the  scattering  of  trees  which  came  thinning  out  of  the  mass  of 
the  forest  round  to  that  part  of  the  sand  where  I  had  met 
with  the  iron  ring  of  the  hatch,  I  spied,  or  seemed  to  spy,  a 
human  face  peering  at  me  from  the  midst  of  a  huddle  of  leaves 
big  enough  to  serve  for  the  foliage  of  a  cotton-tree.  I  stopped 
dead  like  a  man  transfixed,  the  cigar  I  was  about  to  raise  to  my 
lips  arrested  midway,  as  though  my  arm  had  suddenly  been 
blasted.  The  light  rained  in  a  blue  dazzle  betwixt  me  and  the 
heavily-leafed  bough,  and  the  glare  of  it  obliged  me  to  blink, 
that  on  looking  again  I  might  make  sure.  Yet  when  I  stared 
afresh  the  face  was  gone.  I  hollowed  my  hands  into  the  form  of 
a  binocular  glass  to  shelter  and  strengthen  my  sight,  and  gazed 
again,  but  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen  saving  the  surface  of 
green  leaves  which  seemed  to  arcli  the  solid  bough  they  draped, 
as  though  each  was  of  the  weight  of  a  giant  banana.  It  seemed 
incredible  that  I  should  have  been  mistaken.  The  vision,  if  it 
were  nothing  more  substantial,  had  been  that  of  a  swarthy  faca 
with  white  whiskers,  and  eyes  that  might  have  been  of  a  reddish 
tinge,  glittering  under  shaggy  white  brows.  I  listened,  but 
nothing  was  audible  save  the  humming,  chirruping,  and 
whistling,  which  swelled  to  the  ear  like  the  commingling  of  the 
notes  of  a  bagpipe  with  the  vibratory  hum  of  a  church  organ. 
All  was  stirless  in  the  tree,  though  I  watched  it  attentively.  I 
had  left  my  pistols  in  the  kitchen,  as  I  must  call  it,  or  I  should 
certainly  have  let  fly  at  the  branch,  and  taken  my  chance  of  a 
murdered  man  falling  out  of  the  foliage  of  it.  Still  thinking  it 
impossible  that  my  sight  could  have  been  deceived,  I  walked 
briskly  towards  the  tree,  and  looking  upwards  searched  it  as 
penetratingly  as  the  greenery  would  permit :  then  seeing  no- 
thing saving  a  paroquet  or  two,  I  walked  a  little  further  towards 
the  forest,  still  gazing  upwards,  but  nothing  answering  in  the 
least  imaginable  degree  to  the  object,  real  or  imaginary,  that  had 
confounded  me,  met  my  eye.  I  again  strained  my  sight,  sending 
glance  after  glance  around,  then  returned  to  the  open,  and  pro- 
ceeded towards  the  hummock,  satisfied  that  what  I  had  beheld 
was  a  deceit  of  the  imagination,  though  this  notion  did  not  help 
to  soothe  my  secret  perturbation.  Unless  the  man  actually  lived 
inside  the  trunk  of  the  tree  out  of  whose  leaves  he  had  peered, 
'twas  impossible  if  he  were  human  to  have  escaped  the  searching 
gaze  I  had  directed  at  the  intermingling  of  boughs.  I  said  to 
myself  it  was  some  illusion  of  the  sight,  some  fantastic  creation 

B  2 


244  MAROONED 

wrought  by  the  trembling  flash  of  the  sand  and  the  wide  blue 
brilliance  of  heaven  and  ocean  upon  the  ball  of  the  eye.  And 
yet  it  was  an  apparition,  too,  to  so  fit  the  bewildering  enigma  of 
the  bell-ringing,  that,  spite  of  my  declaring  to  myself  it  was 
fancy,  I  was  as  uneasy  as  if  I  had  been  sure  it  was  reaL 

However,  on  reaching  the  hummock  my  thoughts  underwent 
a  sudden  and  violent  change,  for  on  glancing  leisurely  along 
the  sea-line,  thinking  of  nothing  but  the  man's  face  in  the  tree, 
I  caught  sight  of  a  ship's  canvas  down  in  the  south,  like  the 
point  of  a  sea-fowl's  pinion,  projecting  white  as  foam  and 
lustrous  as  pearl  above  the  horizon.  I  clapped  my  hands  with 
the  sudden  transport  the  sight  awakened  in  me,  and  without 
pausing  to  consider  the  distance  at  which  the  craft  hung,  I  set 
fire  to  the  pile  of  faggots.  There  was  but  the  mildest  breathing 
of  air.  The  wood  took  some  time  to  kindle,  and  then  the  smoke, 
darkening  and  fattening  out  in  thickness  to  the  green  coating 
of  grass  and  leaves  with  which  I  had  covered  the  faggots,  went 
nobly  straight  up  to  a  great  height — a  grand  signal  indeed,  as  I 
thought,  where  it  lazily  arched  over  plume-like  and  floated 
softly  into  the  east.  I  stood  watching  for  upwards  of  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour,  with  my  eyes  thirsting  for  a  sign  of  the 
growth  of  the  sail,  staring  with  such  tormenting  intensity,  that 
again  and  again  the  vast  plain  of  sea  brimming  out  to  the 
brassy  azure  of  the  sky,  steeping  to  it  streaked  with  the  silver 
lines  of  currents  and  turquoise-coloured  swathes,  winding  and 
dilating  and  melting  into  the  richer  hue  of  the  brine,  would 
start  as  if  to  spin  with  gathering  speed  round  and  round,  and  I 
had  to  blind  my  sight  with  my  hands  to  check  the  mirjhty 
waltz,  the  first  reel  of  which  was  as  sickening  as  a  swoon  to  the 
brain.  I  was  alone,  and  exerted  but  little  judgment,  or  I  might 
have  guessed  that  on  that  stagnant  surface  the  sail  must  hover 
for  hours  apparently  motionless.  Yet  it  was  certain  that  she 
had  hove  in  sight  since  the  morning,  that  is  to  say,  since  I  had 
last  viewed  the  sea,  and  either  a  faint  breeze  of  wind  had 
brought  her  to  where  she  was,  or  she  was  a  small  vessel  stemming 
the  water  to  the  propulsion  of  her  sweeps  or  long  oars. 

The  fire  was  burnt  out ;  the  smoke  drained  dimly  into  the 
air  off  the  smouldering  embers,  and  was  of  no  more  use  as  a 
signal  than  the  flourish  of  a  handkerchief.  Then,  after  waiting 
a  little  while,  and  watching  as  intently  as  the  heat  and  glare  of 
the  giddy  atmosphere,  swimming  to  the  sea  from  the  dazzling 
brass  of  the  heavens,  would  suffer,  I  could  no  longer  doubt  that 
the  distant  vessel  was  drawing  down  the  slope  into  the  south- 
west ;  whence,  as  there  was  no  wind  to  propel  her,  it  was  certain 
that  she  was  being  urged  by  oars.  In  that  case  she  would 
probably  be  some  small  drogher  or  coasting  craft. 

My  disappointment  was  not  so  bitter  as  I  should  have  ex- 
pected to  find  in  me  at  sight  of  a  ship  lingering  long  enough  to 
wildly  tantalize  hope,  and  then  tardily  melting  out  of  view. 
Maybe  I  found  a  large  stroke  of  comfort  in  the  very  vision  of 


I  SHOOT  THE  BELL-RINGER  245 

her,  for  now  I  might  suppose  that  the  speck  we  had  seen  in  the 
•wake  of  moonshine  last  night,  and  taken  to  be  a  deception 
of  the  fancy,  was  a  real  ship  after  all ;  so  that  with  yonder  one 
we  might  say  that  two  sail  had  hove,  in  near  upon  twelve  hours, 
within  reach  of  our  eyes,  even  from  the  very  low  elevation  we 
occupied.  This  was  as  good  as  understanding  that  the  sea 
round  about  us  was  navigable  water,  that  the  ocean  betwixt  us 
und  the  film  of  land  away  down  west  might  be  a  sort  of  high- 
way, as  Miss  Grant  had  suggested,  and  that  therefore  a  ship 
might  at  any  hour  pass  close  enough  to  our  little  principality 
of  crickets  and  parrots  to  catch  sight  of  our  smoke  and  send  a 
boat.  So,  not  very  greatly  disheartened,  I  sent  another  look  at 
'  the  pearl-like  fragment  in  the  south,  and  making  sure  now  by 
the  airy  blending  of  it  with  the  azure  that  the  craft  was  head- 
ing away  and  would  be  out  of  sight  presently,  I  descended  the 
little  hill,  purposing  when  the  cool  of  the  evening  came  to  build 
up  another  fire  ready  to  signal  with. 

As  I  approached  our  secret  chambers,  Miss  Grant  came  out 
of  the  opening.  It  was  the  strangest  sight  in  the  world  to  see 
her  rising,  as  it  were,  out  of  the  earth ;  that  was  the  impression 
you  got  from  the  flat  of  the  sand.  It  put  a  fancy  into  me  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  body,  followed  on  by  a  daintier  imagination 
of  Venus  shaping  white  out  of  the  foam — though  the  girl's 
apparel  was  a  little  in  the  way  of  tliat  idea.  You  saw  nothing 
of  the  grave-like  hollow,  merely  the  figure  of  the  beautiful  girl 
that  seemed  to  float  up  out  of  the  blinding  silver  of  the  sand. 
Her  apparition  in  this  way  was  as  sweet  a  surprise  as  could 
fascinate  the  eye.  She  had  changed  her  attire,  robed  herself  in 
a  white  gown,  dressed  her  hair  afresh,  heaping  it  on  her  head, 
with  a  wide  straw  hat  tilted  on  it  like  a  picture  of  a  beauty  in 
George  IIL's  day. 

'You  have  been  a  long  while  watching  the  sea,  Mr.  Mus- 
grave,'  she  exclaimed,  smiling  as  if  to  the  surprise  and  admir- 
ation with  which  I  regarded  her. 

'  I  have  been  endeavouring  to  signal  a  ship,'  said  I. 

'A  ship  ! '  she  cried,  approaching  me  close,  and  staring  at  me. 

4  Yes,'  I  answered  ;  'she  will  have  faded  out  by  this  time  like 
the  smoke  of  my  fire.  But  no  matter.  The  sight  of  her  is  a 
warrant  of  more  to  follow.  All  I  have  to  do  is  to  keep  a  bright 
look-out.  We  shall  be  rescued  yet,  and  soon,  depend  on  it.' 

We  strolled  together  to  the  shadow  of  the  trees  where  our 
camp-stools  were,  and  seated  ourselves.  For  a  long  time  she 
talked  of  nothing  but  the  ship,  and  I  could  see,  by  the  flush  in 
her  cheeks  and  the  gathering  light  in  her  eyes,  how  useful  to 
her  spirits  was  (he  hope  that  my  news  of  having  sighted  a 
vessel  had  brought  with  it. 

'We  ought  to  feel  grateful  to  the  crew  of  the  Iron  Croivn,' 
said  she,  'for  having  sent  our  luggage  with  us.  Oh,  Mr. 
Musgrave,  how  am  I  to  express  the  refreshment  of  a  complete 
change  of  apparel  ?  It  robs  the  island  of  half  its  terrors,' 


246  MAROONED 

'Rather  lucky,'  said  I,  dryly, '  that  I  kicked  up  that  iron  ring, 
though  it  cost  me  a  sprawl.  Is  not  the  privacy  of  a  bed-chamber 
in  such  a  place  as  tins  almost  as  nice  as  a  change  of  clothes  ? ' 

*Well,  I  didn't  like  the  idea.  I  confess,'  she  replied,  with  a 
pretty  shake  of  the  head.  '  I  don't  like  it  much  yet,  I  admit. 
Those  tomb-like  rooms  are  very  well  in  the  day;  but  when 
the  long  dark  night  comes  I '  she  added,  with  a  light  shiver. 

At  this  I  involuntarily  turned  my  eyes  towards  the  forest, 
with  a  glance  up  aloft  and  at  the  trees  beyond,  thinking  of  the 
demoniacal  white-whiskered  old  face,  with  its  cairngorm  eyes 
brilliant  in  the  midst  of  its  swarthy  countenance,  that  had  seemed 
to  peer  at  me  awhile  gone.  But  I  would  not  even  hint  at  the 
possibility  of  such  an  apparition.  I  was  still  inclined  to  reckon 
it  a  mere  fancy ;  besides,  I  knew  that  even  though  I  should 
vaguely  refer  to  it  as  some  optical  delusion  occasioned  by  a 
fantastic  writhe  of  the  leaves  to  the  folds  of  the  hot  blue  air 
between,  sleep  would  be  murdered  for  her  that  night.  Never- 
theless, I  made  up  my  mind  whilst  the  sun  was  still  high  to  put 
my  pistols  in  my  pockets  and  search  the  little  forest  afresh  ;  tor, 
to  speak  honestly,  the  memory  of  the  swart  malignant  coun- 
tenance coming  into  my  mind  again  rendered  me  secretly  very 
uneasy,  and  I  felt,  when  the  night  drew  down  and  I  was  at  rest 
in  the  profound  stillness  of  the  underground  kitchen,  that  I 
should  regret  not  having  made  again  a  careful  investigation 
of  the  wood. 

I  got  up,  saying,  'I'll  just  take  another  walk  through  those 
trees,  Miss  Grant.  I  want  to  satisfy  myself  that  there  is  not  a 
second  bell  hidden  somewhere  in  the  green  thickness.  It  would 
be  insupportable,  you  know,  to  be  awakened  by  a  new  kind  of 
chiming  to-night/ 

*  Why  should  you  imagine  there  is  a  second  bell  t '  she  asked, 
with  her  eyes  seeming  to  enlarge  to  the  very  thought  of  it. 

'I  dorit  imagine  there  is,'  said  I,  'but  no  harm  can  follow 
another  look  round  ;  besides,'  I  added,  smiling,  '  I  might  chance 
upon  the  fellow  that  has  troubled  us  for  the  past  two  nights, 
so  that  even  should  we  be  unable  to  hang  him  oefore  sundown, 
we  might  seize  him  to  one  of  those  trees  as  Broad  water  seized 
the  half-blood  to  the  foremast,  and  go  to  our  rest  without 
apprehension  of  being  corked  up.' 

I  laughed  out  to  let  her  suppose  that  I  talked  for  talk's  sake 
only,  and  fetching  my  pistols  made  for  the  forest,  taking  the 
road  into  it  past  the  tree  in  which  I  had  seen  the  real  or 
imagined  face,  waving  my  hand  to  her  as  I  strode  into  the 
shadow.  And  a  shadow  it  was  when  you  penetrated  into  the 
thick  of  the  trees,  coming  as  you  did  from  the  sultry  whiteness  of 
sand,  and  the  hot  radiant  stare  of  the  unwrinkled  deep  up  at  the 
sky  that  opened  and  contracted  its  atmospheric  folds  of  sapphire 
as  it  seemed — a  shadow  cool,  dark,  green,  and  as  slumberous 
a  spot  as  one  could  have  pictured,  with  its  sombre,  pillar-like 
trunks  of  trees  rising  out  of  the  stillness  of  the  tall  and  prickly 


I  SHOOT  THE  BELL-RINGER  217 

undergrowth  into  the  cathedral  hush  of  the  gloomy  density  of 
boughs  and  leaves,  but  for  the  incessant  splitting  of  the  silence 
by  the  cries,  whistlings,  and  croakings,  as  familiar  now  to  my 
ear  as  the  twitter  of  the  London  sparrow,  or  by  the  airy  dis- 
turbance of  the  plumes  and  pinions  of  birds  rustling  on  the 
wing  with  a  sound  as  of  the  rending  of  satin  as  they  sailed 
from  one  tree  to  another,  brushing  the  foliage  as  they  flew. 

The  direction  I  was  unconsciously  following  brought  me,  with 
some  painful  thrusting  of  my  legs — for  in  places  the  tangle  was 
as  hard  and  stubborn  as  a  fence — to  the  spot  where  the  gallows- 
looking  frame  from  which  I  had  unhooked  the  bell  stood.  It 
^was  scarce  within  view  of  me  when  I  caught  sight  of  a  large 
"hat  placed  exactly  over  the  hook  from  which  the  bell  had 
depended.  I  looked  and  looked,  greatly  amazed,  and  let  me 
frankly  own,  with  a  mind  for  some  moments  not  a  little  dis- 
ordered by  consternation.  I  was  of  course  as  sure  as  that  I 
lived  that  no  hat  was  upon  the  frame  when  I  had  unhung  the 
bell.  I  stared  nervously  around  me,  mechanically  drawing  a 
pistol  from  my  pocket,  and  looking  first  into  one  twilight 
avenue  and  then  into  another,  then  gazing  narrowly  at  the 
herbage  round  about,  afterwards  staring  overhead,  listening 
meanwhile  intently.  I  approached  the  hat  by  a  step,  and 
inspected  it.  It  was  such  a  piece  of  headgear  as  might  have 
been  washed  up  by  the  sea.  I  raised  my  hand  and  pulled  it 
down,  but  instantly  dropped  it,  for  it  was  horribly  clammy  and 
cold,  and  made  you  think,  from  the  sensation  you  got  from  it,  of 
groping  in  the  dark  and  stroking  down  a  dead  man's  face.  It 
was  apparently  a  felt  hat  that  had  once  been  black,  but  it  was 
now  green  and  bronzed  with  time  and  wet.  It  was  very  broad- 
brimmed,  with  a  sort  of  sugar-loaf  crown  ;  much  such  a  sort  of 
hat  indeed  as  the  boys  clap  upon  Guy  Fawkes'  head  when  they 
carry  him  off  to  the  stake.  I  turned  it  over  with  my  foot  to  see 
what  the  inside  of  it  looked  like,  but  it  had  long  since  been 
divorced  from  any  lining  that  may  have  garnished  it  in  its  hey- 
day. It  was  old  enough  indeed  both  in  fashion  and  aspect  to 
have  belonged  to  one  of  the  people  who  had  dug  out  and  used 
the  underground  chambers.  But  who  or  what  since  the  morning 
had  placet!  it  upon  that  bell-frame?  It  gave  me  a  kind  of 
shrinking  feeling,  I  can  tell  you,  to  think  that  there  might  be 
human  eyes  watching  me  out  of  some  of  those  green  dyes  of 
shadow  round  about,  and  as  I  stood  there  I  never  knew  from 
instant  to  instant  but  that  the  flame  of  a  h're-arm  would  leap 
from  behind  a  tree,  or  an  arrow  sling  past  my  ear. 

The  sight  of  this  hat  convinced  me  that  I  had  not  been  mis- 
taken in  supposing  the  wild,  grotesque  face  I  had  caught  a 
glimpse  of  to  be  that  of  a  man.  Miss  Grant  was  right.  There 
must  be  one  or  more  human  creatures  in  hiding  here.  The  bell 
could  not  ring  itself ;  the  hat  had  been  brought  from  a  distance 
— I  must  certainly  have  seen  it  when  I  first  explored  this  place, 
and  stood  looking  from  the  scaffold  to  the  grass  far  as  my  sight 


248  MAROONED 

could  follow  it :  I  say,  the  old  hat  had  been  brought  here  and 
placed  upon  the  frame,  and  if  this  did  not  signify  human 
agency,  then  it  was  not  to  be  accounted  for  but  by  supposing 
the  devil  himself  to  be  at  large  upon  the  island.  I  was  startled, 
astonished,  alarmed,  as  I  believe  any  man  would  have  been; 
but  I  was  resolved,  nevertheless,  not  to  quit  the  wood  without  a 
further  good  hunt,  and  so  pushed  on,  pausing  incessantly  to 
listen  and  to  look,  to  kick  at  some  suspicious  huddle  of  huge 
blades  of  aloe-like  growth,  to  stare  into  the  trees,  or  to  fight 
my  way  to  some  trunk  looming  with  a  yawn  in  it  in  the 
twilight  so  as  to  make  one  suppose  it  hollow.  But  to  no  pur- 
pose. I  believe  there  was  no  part  of  that  forest  I  did  not 
traverse,  and  in  all  I  sp^ent  a  full  hour  in  making  the  rounds  of 
it ;  but  not  the  least  hint  of  anything  approaching  humanity 
did  I  see. 

The  puzzle  was  so  supreme  as  to  depress  my  spirits  by  the 
heaviness  of  the  perplexity  it  excited :  but  I  made  up  my  mind 
to  say  nothing  about  the  hat  to  Miss  Grant.  I  was  now  as  con- 
vinced as  she  that  there  were  more  people  than  ourselves  on  this 
island,  though  but  one  more  only,  and  I  believed  that  it  was  his 
face  I  had  seen  amongst  the  leaves.  All  sorts  of  wild  notions 
occurred  to  me  as  I  staggeringly  made  my  way  out  of  that  little 
forest.  It  had  been  the  face  of  an  old  man.  Was  the  bell-ringer 
some  aged  pirate,  who  had  gone  mad,  and  wandered  about  the 
place,  living  upon  such  fruit  and  herbs  as  he  could  grub  up, 
grown  expert  in  the  art  of  climbing  trees,  and  secreting  himself 
by  such  years  of  practice  as  had  enabled  Selkirk  to  hunt  the 
goat  more  fleetly  than  the  goat  itself  could  run,  using  the  spread- 
ing branch  for  his  bedroom,  through  not  having  intellect  enough 
to  hunt  after  and  dig  out  the  sand-covered  portals  of  his  sub- 
terranean home  ?  Or,  thought  I,  is  it  conceivable  that  there  are 
such  things  as  spirits? — that  the  old  navigators'  fables  about 
demon-haunted  islands  are  not  the  lies  which  our  scientific  age 
protests  them  to  be  ?  Upon  my  word,  thought  I,  as  I  broke  my 
way  along  with  a  nervous  glance  over  my  shoulder,  how  many 
weeks,  nay,  how  many  days  of  marooning  go  to  the  addling  of 
the  most  healthy  brains  t 

'What  have  you  seen,  Mr.  Musgrave t '  asked  Miss  Grant,  as  I 
approached  her. 

Just  a  parrot  or  two,'  said  L 

'You  have  been  a  long  while  watching  them,'  said  she,  eying 
me  so  attentively  that  I  feared  she  would  find  in  my  face  some 
small  signs  of  the  astonishment  and  misgivings  which  filled  my 
mind. 

'  Oh,'  I  exclaimed  carelessly, '  the  forest  is  dark,  as  you  know, 
and  a  sheer  maze  in  its  way.  with  spots  where  the  high  guinea 
grass  leans  to  you  tough  and  piercing  as  a  crop  of  bayonets.  I 
was  resolved  to  hunt  the  place  through  and  through,  a  thing 
not  to  be  done  in  ten  minutes.  Now,  Miss  Grant,'  I  went  on. 
»  glance  at  my  watch, '  suppose  we  go  to  tea,  as  I  must  call 


I  SHOOT  THE  BELL-RINGEP  249 

the  meal — though  for  a  real  homely  cup  of  tea  just  nr  v,  served 
up  with  buttered  toast  and  a  new-laid  egg,  with  a  p.ateful  of 
watercress,  I'd  part  with  every  inch  of  turtle  betwixt  the  sheila 
I  opened  this  morning.  Heaven  bless  us  all,  to  what  weak 
desires  will  marooning  reduce  a  man  ! ' 

I  had  to  build  up  the  beacon  fire  again  that  evening,  and  when 
we  had  made  a  meal  off  some  cold  turtle  and  plantains,  a  sweet 
biscuit  or  two,  and  a  shellf  ul  of  sherry,  and  water  fresh  and  cool 
from  the  brook — a  sort  of  incipient  sangaree — I  fell  to  collecting 
as  much  wood  as  would  go  to  the  making  of  a  great  smoke,  but 
the  sun  had  been  sunk  some  time  before  I  had  stacked  and  got 
ready  the  pile  for  firing.  When  I  had  made  an  end  of  this,  I 
"gathered  a  quantity  of  grass  and  leaves,  and  took  the  heap  to 
the  kitchen  to  serve  me  for  a  mattress  by  and  by.  Again  and 
again  I  looked  at  the  ocean,  but  it  always  stretched  out  blank, 
without  a  tip  of  cloud  even  to  quicken  the  pulse  for  an  instant 
with  the  fancy  of  a  sail.  As  the  evening  darkened  into  night, 
with  the  moon  rising  slow  and  red  directly  in  the  face  of  us, 
where  the  eastern  sea,  black  as  ink,  washed  to  the  huge  dull 
gold  shield  of  the  sulky-looking  planet,  as  though  the  orb  was 
some  glorified  head  of  land  against  whose  very  face  the  deep 
brimmed  without  a  ripple  of  breaker,  the  disquietude  raised  in 
Miss  Grant  by  the  prospect  of  a  night  underground  increased 
in  her.  I  felt  her  uneasiness  rather  than  gathered  it  from  her 
speech  ;  but  it  would  have  been  unkind  to  us  both  to  humour 
her — a  mere  provoking,  in  short,  of  some  wretched  tropic  dis- 
temper— to  sling  her  hammock  between  the  trees  again,  and  to 
make  my  bed  among  the  land-crabs.  Indeed,  though  to  be  sure 
we  had  passed  two  nights  safely  in  the  open,  the  memory  of 
the  ugly  glimmering  face  amongst  the  leaves,  along  with  the 
odd  and  astonishing  sign  of  the  hat,  would  have  rendered  the 
obligation  of  sleeping  out  here  again  very  disagreeable  to  me,  I 
can  assure  you.  Why,  it  was  only  necessary  to  fancy  that  there 
was  a  man  on  the  island  to  suspect  that  he  might  cut  our  throats 
if  we  gave  him  the  chance.  Underground,  at  all  events,  we 
should  feel  tolerably  secure,  by  which  I  mean  that  the  courage 
that  would  bring  the  wild  creature,  whoever  he  was,  to  the  side 
of  a  girl  motionless  in  a  hammock,  or  to  a  man  slumbering 
peacefully  on  the  sand,  with  his  figure  clean  cut  on  the  face  of 
the  coral  dust  as  though  it  were  an  inlaying  of  jet,  and  a  very 
visible  mark  therefore  for  the  assassin's  knife — I  say,  the  courage 
of  the  mysterious  creature  might  fail  him  when  it  came  to  his 
having  to  seek  us  in  a  dark  vault.  He  knew  we  were  armed, 
and  though  he  might  have  a  knife,  or  spear,  or  something  of  the 
kind,  it  was  a  hundred  to  one  if  he  had  a  musket  or  pistol,  or 
ammunition  for  it  at  least.  So,  to  my  companion's  disquiet, 
obvious  in  her  fits  of  thoughtfulness  and  her  uneasy  glances 
towards  the  cave,  showing  where  her  thoughts  lay,  I  seemed  to 
pay  no  heed. 

The  wight  came  on  very  glorious,  with  the  soaring  of  the  moon. 


£»  MAROONED 

the  stars  thick  strewn,  just  stir  enough  of  night  air  to  send  th« 
sweet  smells  of  the  dew- washed  island  flowers  lazily  floating  to 
us  in  folds  of  aromatic  atmosphere,  and  a  delicate  seething  of 
surf  to  blunt  the  edge  of  the  shrillness  of  the  inland  concert.  To 
kill  the  time,  I  proposed  that  we  should  go  and  hunt  for  turtles' 
eggs,  and  we  went  together  to  the  creek,  keeping  a  bright  look- 
out for  the  impress  of  the  tread  of  the  turtle.  But  though  we 
saw  marks  in  the  sand  which  fairly  well  resembled  the  tracks 
we  sought,  they  led  us  to  nothing. 

'Perhaps/  said  I,  'the  turtle  doesn't  lay  in  this  month.  If  I 
could  have  foreseen  our  adventure,  I  should  have  read  a  little  in 
the  natural  history  of  this  part  of  the  world.' 

We  continued  our  search  for  some  time,  probing  at  the  sand, 
but  if  there  were  any  eggs  about,  they  were  too  cleverly  hid  for 
us  to  come  at,  so  we  stepped  down  to  the  beach,  facing  the 
moon,  where  there  was  a  clear,  long,  white  walk,  flat,  and  but  a 
little  less  hard  than  a  ship's  deck,  and  paced  to  and  fro  for  a 
long  while ;  though  there  was  no  complete  surrender  of  our- 
selves to  eacli  other  this  night  as  on  former  occasions,  when 
she  would  reflect  my  mood,  or  I  hers.  The  fact  is,  she  could 
think  of  little  but  the  underground  bedroom,  and  I  of  the  hob- 
goblin face  and  the  old  Guy  Fawkes  hat.  Indeed  my  imagina- 
tion was  so  wrought  up,  that  twice  when  glancing  towards  the 
forest  I  could  have  sworn  I  saw  the  shape  of  a  man  flit  a  little 
way  past  the  two  trees  where  the  hammock  had  swung  ;  for  the 
shadows  there  were  a  greenish  faintness  of  dusk  with  the  pour- 
ing of  the  moon,  and  one's  sight  went  a  little  way  into  the 
block  of  blackness.  But  the  hour  came  round  at  last  when  it 
was  time  we  should  endeavour  to  take  some  rest.  Miss  Grant 
reluctantly  walked  by  my  side  to  the  entrance,  looking  down  a 
little  into  the  hatch  as  though  her  heart  failed  her. 

*  Indeed  there  is  nothing  to  fear,'  said  L 

'  Oh,  but  it  is  like  being  buried  alive,'  she  exclaimed,  descend- 
ing nevertheless,  but  with  a  quickened  breath.  I  lighted  one 
of  the  wax  candles  and  carried  it  to  the  inner  room,  where, 
wanting  the  convenience  of  a  candle-stick,  I  stuck  it  in  the 
mouth  of  a  bottle,  earnestly  looking  round  me  to  see  that  all 
was  well.  The  skylight  lay  open.  I  asked  if  I  should  close  it. 

'  No,'  she  exclaimed,  quickly. 

4  But  supposing  it  should  come  on  to  rain  in  the  night,'  said  I, 
'an  electric  storm  say,  with  a  Wast  Indian  shower  pouring  otf 
the  edge  of  it?  Besides,  the  mosquitoes  will  find  their  way  in.' 

'I  must  take  my  chance,'  she  exclaimed.  'If  that  glass  were 
shut,  I  should  feel  as  if  I  were  buried  alive.' 

'Then  good-night.  May  God  bless  you,  and  send  you  refresh- 
ing sleep  and  sweet  dreams,'  said  I,  bringing  her  cold  white 
hand  to  my  lips.  'My  bed  will  be  there,'  I  added,  pointing  to 
the  threshold  of  her  door, '  so  that  literally  nothing  could  enter 
this  room  -without  treading  on  my  body.' 

She  glanced  at  the  skylight,  and  looked  at  me  wistfully,  as 


I  SHOOT  THE  BELL-RINGER  251 

though  she  would  have  me  linger  yet.  I  lifted  my  hat  and 
quitted  the  strange  chamber,  carefully  drawing  the  curtain 
after  me. 

The  moon  rode  high  over  the  island  :  her  radiance  lay  upon 
the  skylight,  and  on  the  hatchway,  as  I  may  call  it,  and  light 
enough  came  sifting  in  to  enable  me  to  see  without  a  candle. 
I  gathered  the  dry  stuff  I  had  collected  for  a  mattress  close 
against  the  shawl  that  hung  from  the  doorway  of  the  inner 
room,  and  made  me  up  a  bed  of  rugs,  with  a  rolled-up  coat  or 
two  for  a  bolster.  I  then  carefully  looked  to  my  pistols  and 
placed  them  on  the  floor,  one  on  either  hand  or  me ;  which 
gone,  I  threw  off  my  boots,  removed  my  light  camlet  jacket,  and 
lay  down.  The  skylight  was  open,  but  I  needed  air,  for  the 
atmosphere  was  close  with  the  furnace-brickwork  that  still 
retained  the  warmth  of  the  fires  which  had  been  kindled  in  it 
during  the  day,  and  since  Miss  Grant's  skylight  lay  open  too, 
it  mattered  little  that  mine  should  be  so  ;  for,  should  a  down- 
pour happen  in  the  night — and  I  knew  of  old  what  a  downpour 
in  these  parallels  meant — the  rooms  would  be  flooded  very 
nearly  as  swiftly  with  one  as  with  both  windows  to  let  the  wet 
in,  specially  with  the  entrance  gaping  like  the  mouth  of  a 
funnel  to  vehicle  any  deluge  that  might  come.  I  lay  down,  I 
say,  but  not  to  sleep.  I  could  hear  Miss  Grant  moving  with 
something  of  restlessness  in  her  pacing,  then  all  was  still  in 
her  room ;  and  I  heartily  hoped  she  would  soon  forget  our 
situation  and  her  fears  in  slumber.  The  stillness  was  deep. 
I  had  anticipated  a  pretty  deep  hush  in  these  undersand  cells, 
but  the  reality  was  oppressive  beyond  any  kind  of  breathless 
repose  that  I  could  have  imagined.  Not  so  much  as  the  hum 
of  a  mosquito  stirred  upon  the  hearing ;  the  metallic-like 
chirruping  outside  was  a  little  storm  of  noise  in  its  way,  I 
knew  ;  but  not  an  echo  of  it  penetrated  underground,  spite  of 
the  open  skylight.  I  lay  musing  upon  our  extraordinary  con- 
dition. It  was  difficult  to  credit  that  my  beautiful  companion 
and  I  were  finding  shelter  and  seeking  rest  in  what  was 
practically  as  much  a  grave  as  any  hole  in  the  earth  that 
should  in  God's  own  time  receive  our  bodies.  Up  above  in  the 
moonlight,  with  the  spread  of  the  sea  widening  out  black  from 
the  shaft  of  silver  in  its  heart,  the  trees  overhead,  the  stars 
beyond,  the  innumerable  voice  of  insect  life  in  the  air,  our 
condition  was  real  enough  to  the  imagination — heart-breakingly 
real  indeed  ;  but  down  here  it  was  like  some  wild  fancy,  one 
of  those  strange  dreams  which  hover  in  the  brain  betwixt 
waking  and  sleeping.  Besides,  it  was  a  time  and  an  occasion 
too  for  whatever  was  superstitious  in  the  soul  to  creep  into 
self-assertion  away  from  the  clutch  of  reason.  I  don't  know 
that  I  should  have  felt  nervous  but  for  the  memory  of  the  face 
I  had  seen  ;  but  I  confess  that  I  was  more  uneasy  than  I  should 
have  been  willing  to  admit  to  Miss  Grant,  as  I  lay  in  the  dim, 
ashen-tinctured  atmosphere  of  that  underground  apartment, 


252  MAROONED 

running  my  eye  from  the  grim  memorials  of  sabre  and  musket 
on  the  wall,  to  the  old  table  over  against  my  head,  on  to  the 
short  corridor  going  black  to  the  square  of  faintness  that  over- 
hung the  extremity,  thence  to  the  skylight,  through  which  I 
could  see  a  hundred  soft  and  trembling  stars. 

However,  after  lying  awake  for  a  good  long  while,  I  fell  into 
a  vein  of  dozing,  rambling  thinking,  the  sure  precursor  of  sleep, 
more  like  the  shadows  of  dreams  flitting  before  me  than  the 
presentments  of  waking  thoughts ;  a  sort  of  stupid  confusion 
of  pirates,  mistily  and  soundlessly  flitting  about  the  chamber, 
with  a  few  turtle  mixed  up  amongst  them,  and  God  knows  what 
besides ;  saving  that,  though  reason  was  faltering,  I  was  sensible 
enough  to  kno\y  I  should  presently  be  fast  asleep. 

I  was  in  this  condition  of  mind,  my  eyes  fixed  upon  the 
skylight,  though  the  lids  were  drooping  fast  and  I  was  scarce 
conscious  of  what  I  viewed,  when  I  saw  a  shadow  as  of  the  hat 
that  I  had  met  with  in  the  forest,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  overhang- 
ing the  open  space.  The  posture  of  this  shadow  was  that  of  a 
man  peering  down.  'Twas  unmistakable ;  I  could  not  be  deceived. 
The  dark  outline  was  clear  against  the  stars,  and  it  was  the 
head  of  a  man  wearing  just  such  a  steeple-crowned  hat  as  I  had 
encountered,  bending  over  and  gazing  down. 

I  was  instantly  startled  into  broad  wakefulness.  ^  Brave  I 
should  be  sorry  to  call  myself,  though  I  think  there  is  no  man 
i  whose  nose  I  should  hesitate  to  pull  who  called  me  otherwise  to 
my  face  ;  but  at  sight  of  that  sugar-loafed  hat  and  the  motionless 
peering  human  shape  revealed  to  a  little  past  the  shoulders,  I 
must  confess  to  having  burst  into  a  cold  sweat.  It  was  the  beinr* 
shocked  perhaps  out  of  the  drowsiness  into  which  I  had  sank 
that  made  me  think  the  tiling  a  phantom  for  a  minute  or  two. 
I  lay  stirless,  softly  sneaking  my  right  hand  to  the  pistol,  by 
which  time  I  had  come  to  a  sense  of  the  reality  of  the  vision  ; 
but  before  I  could  point  the  weapon,  being  resolved  to  fire  cost 
what  it  would,  the  hat  vanished\  Now,  thought  I,  the  fellow 
has  been  able  to  obtain  a  tolerable  view  of  this  interior,  and 
concludes  I  am  sound  asleep.  His  next  step  will  be  to  come 
below  1 

I  rose  very  lightly,  being  anxious  not  to  disturb_Miss  Grant, 
and  holding  both  pistols  in  my  hands,  I  stepped  in  my  stock- 
ings over  to  the  corner  made  by  the  projection  of  the  furnace, 
where  I  crouched  in  the  deep  shadow  that  lay  upon  this  part  of 
the  room,  with  my  head  lifted  over  the  edge  of  the  brickwork 
to  enable  me  to  command  the  entrance.  Hardly  had  two 
minutes  elapsed  when  I  spied  the  hat  again  overhanging  the 
skylight,  but  it  did  not  offer  such  a  mark  as  I  could  hope  to  pot 
from  the  place  I  stood  in ;  so  I  continued  to  wait  and  watch. 
I  could  hear  no  sound,  not  the  faintest  crunch  of  a  footfall 
upon  the  grit  of  the  sand  outside  ;  but  the  quick  breathing  of 
the  fellow  was  as  audible  as  the  beating  of  my  heart  in  my  ear, 
and  as  full  a  warrant  as  I  could  have  asked  that  the  thing  • 


I  SHOOT  THE  BELL-RINGER  2» 

no  ghost. "  The  peering  and  meditative  posture  of  the  hat  was 
preserved  whilst  I  might  have  counted  twenty;  the  shadow 
then  disappeared.  Now,  thought  I,  will  he  return  to  the  forest, 
or  will  he  descend  t  Is  he  alone,  or  was  the  second  apparition 
that  of  a  companion  wearing  such  another  hat  as  the  iirst  had 
on  t  Suddenly  I  saw  the  sort  of  film  of  light  that  came  cloud- 
ing a  little  way  into  the  corridor  out  of  the  hatch  die  out,  and 
in  an  instant,  with  the  swiftness  of  a  leap  almost,  the  man  was 
in  the  room.  Softly  as  the  footfall  of  a  cat  I  got  my  pistol  to 
bear  upon  him,  but  before  I  could  pull  the  trigger  he  fell  upon 
all  fours,  and  a  moment  after  I  heard  the  clank  of  the  bell 
grasped  and  overset.  I  sprang  out  of  my  hiding-place,  took 
full  aim,  and  fired.  The  explosion  made  a  thunder  in  the  room. 
By  the  flash  of  the  powder  I  saw  the  creature  spring  to  the 
height  of  the  ceiling,  whilst  he  uttered  the  most  piercing  scream 
that  ever  broke  from  mortal  lips.  The  wild  cry  was  echoed  by 
a  shriek  in  Miss  Grant's  room.  I  was  half -crazy  with  rage  and 
consternation,  and  flinging  down  the  pistol  I  had  fired,  I  levelled 
the  other  at  the  creature  as  he  ran,  dropping  to  the  earth  with 
one  hand  as  he  went  in  staggering  leaps  through  the  dark  pass- 
age, and  sent  a  second  ball  at  him.  The  report  was  followed 
by  another  ear-piercing  shriek  horribly  human.  The  curtain 
behind  me  was  dashed  aside,  and  Miss  Grant  stepped  forth. 

'  What  is  it  ? '  she  cried. 

The  silver  mounting  of  the  pistol  she  held  gleamed  in  her 
grasp  as  she  raised  her  hand  in  addressing  me. 

'I  have  shot  something,'  I  exclaimed;  'but  whether  man 
or  beast  I  know  not.  Be  it  what  it  will,  it  has  two  bullets  in 
its  body.  _  Let  me  have  your  pistol.' 

I  took  it  from  her,  and  walked  right  to  the  steps  which  led 
above.  There  was  nothing  in  the  passage.  I  sprang  into  the 
open  and  looked  around.  The  moonlight  lay  bright  as  day, 
the  shadows  of  the  trees  sloping  eastwards  black  as  indigo 
where  they  rested  on  the  sand.  VVithin  a  stone's-throw  of  me 
was  a  dark  object  that  looked  like  a  small  tortoise  at  the 
distance  whence  I  viewed  it.  I  approached,  and  found  it  to  be 
the  hat  that  I  had  found  in  the  forest.  Miss  Grant  had  fol- 
lowed me  noiselessly,  and  I  only  knew  that  she  was  at  my  side 
by  her  breathing,  the  sound  of  which  was  not  a  little  startling 
to  me,  bending  down  as  I  was  to  examine  the  hat. 

'  Look,  Mr.  Musgrave ! '  she  exclaimed,  in  one  of  her  tragic 
whispers,  '  that  must  be  the  man  you  shot.'  She  pointed  with 
her  white  arm  to  the  stretch  of  sand  some  distance  past  the 
opening  that  led  to  our  cells,  where  I  instantly  observed  a  figure 
prone  and  motionless.  In  a  moment  I  was  making  towards  it, 
but  with  increasing  bewilderment  as  I  advanced ;  for  as  the 
outline  stole  out  clearer  and  clearer  in  the  icy  radiance  to  my 
steps.  I  witnessed  features  which  gradually  but  surely  changed 
my  alarm  into  a  conflict  of  quite  other  emotions.  The  body  lay 
on  its  back ;  its  half -closed  eyes  looked  straight  up  at  the  star* 


254  MAROONED 

put  of  a  brown  and  puckered  face  ringed  with  white  whisker*  ) 
its  arms  were  stretched  out  in  the  posture  of  a  crucified  person, 

'  It  has  three  legs ! '  cried  Miss  Grant. 

'  By  thunder,  no ! '  I  exclaimed,  bursting  into  a  wild  laugh  ; 
*that  is  no  leg.  but  a  great  tail !  As  I  hope  to  go  to  heaven, 
'tis  a  huge  Madagascar  ape ! ' 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

A  GALE  OF  WIND 

THE  murder  was  now  out,  the  mystery  made  very  plain  indeed, 
and  the  solution,  like  most  others  which  come  to  a  man  in  this 
life,  looked  so  simple  that  one  seemed  half  a  fool  for  not  having 
hit  upon  it  at  once.  How  this  great  monkey  happened  to  be  in 
the  island  who  is  to  say  f  Not  very  likely,  I  think,  that  he  was 
born  here,  unless  he  happened  to  be  an  only  son,  and  both 
parents  dead.  Most  likely  he  had  belonged  to  a  ship,  and  been 
cast  away  with  the  crew  many  years  before.  I  do  not  know  how 
long  monkeys  live,  but  this  fellow,  as  he  lay  in  the  moonlight 
with  his  teeth  gleaming  in  the  grin  of  death  out  of  the  wrinkled 
leather  of  his  face,  framed  by  a  pair  of  long  snow-white  whiskers, 
seemed  eighty  years  old.  It  was  likely  that  he  had  belonged  to 
a  ship  because  of  his  bell-ringing  trick,  and  then  his  wearing 
that  Guy  Fawkes  hat  looked  as  if  he  had  been  bred  in  his  youth 
to  a  knowledge  of  clothes. 

But  be  this  as  it  may,  the  bell  was  "rung  no  more.  I  pitched 
the  hat  into  the  sea  ana  met  with  no  other  ;  no  wild  convulsed 
face  looked  at  me  out  of  the  high  greenery,  and  the  skylight 
remained  unshadowed  by  any  outline  of  sugar-loaf  headgear  in 
peering  and  hearkening  posture. 

Miss  Grant  and  I  talked  late  into  the  night,  for  tame  as  the 
issue  proved,  it  was,  I  can  tell  you,  hotly  exciting  whilst  it 
lasted.  But  we  got  some  rest  towards  the  small  hours,  sleeping 
well  into  the  morning,  and  then  my  first  business  was  to  drag 
the  monkey  down  to  the  creek  where  the  sand  was  steep  to, 
with  a  depth  of  three  fathoms  to  the  shelf  of  it ;  and  with  no 
further  service  than  a  few  sea-blessings  upon  its  head  for  the 
worry  and  alarm  it  had  caused  me,  I  rolled  the  body  overboard, 
guessing  that  it  would  presently  float  seawards,  where  John 
Sharkee  lay  in  readiness  to  provide  it  with  a  sure  tomb. 

And  now  for  three  weeks  nothing  that  I  need  tease  you  with 
happened ;  no  such  incident,  I  mean,  as  that  of  my  discovery  of 
the  underground  rooms,  or  the  midnight  tolling,  and  the  sight 
of  the  hat  on  the  bell-frame  afterwards ;  but  it  grew  into  a 
bitter  distressful  time  for  us  as  the  hours  swelled  into  days,  and 
the  days  rolled  into  weeks,  and  found  us  still  imprisoned  upon 
this  island,  not  utterly  hopeless  indeed  of  deliverance,  though 
we  presently  scarce  dared  to  expect  it  God  knows  that  never 


A  GALE  OF  WIND  258 

a  shipwrecked  eye  kept  a  steadf aster  look-out  for  vessels  than  I 
did ;  but  though  during  those  three  weeks  I  reckoned  that  I 
had  sighted  ten  sail  in  all,  none  of  them  ever  grew  to  more  than 
a  glimmer  of  white  upon  the  distant  line ;  so  showing  and  so 
fading — worthless  to  us  as  though  they  had  been  no  more  than 
the  wreaths  of  steam  or  little  curls  of  white  vapour  which  they 
resembled.  Only  twice  indeed  did  I  fire  my  faggots  and  make 
a  smoke.  The  distance  the  vessels  showed  at  made  my  heart 
hopeless,  and  I  could  scarce  step  a  pace  from  one  shadow  to 
another  through  the  roasting  dazzle  of  sand  without  asking 
myself  how  it  must  have  fared  with  us  had  there  been  no  fresh 
water  on  the  island.  For  food,  there  were  turtle  and  craw-fish 
Fn  abundance,  alonjj  with  an  occasional  paroquet  which  I  would 
knock  over  with  Miss  Grant's  pistol,  the  precisest  little  weapon 
of  the  kind  I  had  ever  handled.  We  brought  at  the  start  no 
great  relish  to  theso  birds,  but  they  proved  dainty  eating  for 
people  in  our  situation,  when  carefully  plucked,  cleansed,  and 
boiled.  We  found  a  plentiful  growth  of  plantains,  citrons, 
whose  juice  mingled  with  water  furnished  us  with  a  refreshing 
drink,  wild  oranges,  and  a  small  delicious  fruit  resembling  the 
Australian  passion  fruit,  but  its  proper  name  I  do  not  know. 
There  were,  as  you  have  heard,  a  large  stock  of  fish-hooks  in  the 
little  black  chest  in  Miss  Grant's  room.  I  had  no  means  of 
pushing  out  seawards  to  any  distance  to  fish,  so  between  us 
Miss  Grant  and  I  manufactured  lines  of  twisted  linen,  which  wo 
laid  up  to  strengthen  the  least  rotted  portions  of  the  small  stuff 
I  found  in  the  chest ;  then  attaching  a  sinker  to  the  baited 
hook,  I  buoyed  it  to  a  little  piece  of  timber,  the  sinker  going 
about  two  fathoms  below  the  surface,  and  let  the  apparatus 
drift  out  from  the  mouth  of  the  creek  to  the  end  of  the  line 
which  I  held  in  my  hand,  and  in  this  manner  I  caught  a  great 
number  of  fish,  incredibly  various  in  hues,  shapes,  and  sizes ; 
some  of  them  coming  out  of  the  water  like  flashes  of  dark  gold 
light,  others  green  as  emeralds,  others  with  half-a-dozen  of 
brilliant  colours  glowing  upon  them  as  though  fantastically 
painted,  yet  with  exquisite  cunning,  by  an  artist.  It  was  merci- 
ful that  we  did  not  poison  ourselves  with  some  of  these  fish,  for 
we  ate  all  we  took,  if  I  except  a  great  bloated,  spotted  thing 
with  a  green  back,  fins  like  a  man's  arm  amputated  at  the 
elbow,  and  a  white  breast  freckled  with  sulphur-coloured  spots. 
Even  this  creature  I  think  we  should  have  devoured  but  for  its 
ugliness,  yet  nothing  that  we  ate  hurt  us.  Indeed  our  health 
continued,  very  good,  which  I  attribute  to  our  being  lodged  out 
of  the  touch  of  the  night  air,  to  our  exposing  ourselves  as  little 
as  possible  to  the  sun,  and  to  the  sweetness  and  purity  of  the 
water  we  drank. 

As  you  may  suppose,  it  was  impossible  for  such  an  association 
as  ours  not  to  deepen  in  me  the  sentiment  that  had  been  excited 
BO  long  before  as  the  first  week  or  two  of  our  being  aboard  the 
Iron  Grown.  We  were  hour  after  hour  together ;  it  was  indeed 


258  MAKOONED 

almost  only  during  those  intervals  when  I  would  walk  to  the 
hummock  to  take  a  view  of  the  sea  that  we  were  separated.  My 
couch  of  leaves  and  rugs  was  at  the  threshold  of  her  doorway. 
All  through  the  night  there  was  nothing  betwixt  her  and  me  but 
the  curtain  I  had  contrived.  In  the  deep  hush  of  that  strange 
interior,  made  solemn  to  my  mind  by  thoughts  of  the  grave,  and 
sanctified  to  my  imagination  by  the  presence  of  the  beautiful 
Avoman  it  sheltered,  I  would  lie  listening  to  the  regular  respira- 
tions of  her  slumber,  disturbed  at  long  intervals  by  some  low 
melodious  flutterings  of  speech  breaking  from  her  dreaming  lips, 
and  sometimes  I  would  catch  my  name  clear  in  these  unconscious 
utterings ;  and  it  was  significant  to  me  almost  to  an  emotion  of 
grief  that  I  would  notice  myself  hearkening  for  the  name  of  her 
lover,  and  smiling  when  her  babbling  died  out  in  a  long  sigh, 
followed  on  by  peaceful  regular  breathing.  It  seemed  a  sort  of 
mocking  of  fate,  so  to  speak,  to  think  of  love,  to  be  sensible  of  the 
stir  of  the  emotion,  in  such  a  situation  as  ours  was  ;  but  then, 
unhappily,  it  was  no  more  to  be  helped  than  the  thirst  that 
would  come  upon  me,  or  the  yearning  after  our  deliverance. 
That  I  concealed  from  her  what  was  in  my  mind  I  cannot  say. 
I  strove  most  strenuously  to  do  so,  not  only  from  love  of  my  own 
honour,  and  because  it  would  have  wrung  me  to  the  heart  to 
have  been  the  occasion  of  a  pang  in  her,  but  because  I  instinct- 
ively feared — indeed  let  me  say  I  clearly  foresaw — that  should 
she  guess  at  my  thoughts  of  her,  a  sort  of  alienation  must  follow, 
a  condition  of  inexpressible  embarrassment  to  us  both,  banded  as 
we  were  in  intimate  partnership^  by  our  imprisonment.  I  could 
foretell  pity,  shyness,  reproach  in  her  ;  an  estrangement  which 
would  be  as  a  perpetual  wound  to  my  pride  ;  a  cessation  of  our 
free  communion,  to  end  maybe  in  a  mere  bleak  civility  of  inter- 
course ;  the  inspiration  of  our  requirements  rather  than  of  her 
desire.  You  will  think  me  unduly  sensitive  ;  yet  when  I  look 
back  I  cannot  but  think  that  I  rightly  governed  myself  in  the 
matter.  If  ever  this  fair  and  charming  woman  was  under  my 
protection  she  was  so  now,  with  infinitely  deeper  claims  on  me 
than  she  could  have  had  in  our  darkest  hours  aboard  ship.  Her 
very  defencelessness,  methought,  was  God's  own  protest  in  her 
against  the  lightest  exhibition  of  passion  that  would  give  her 
uneasiness.  If  I  was  in  love  with  her,  it  was  for  my  honour  as 
a  gentleman  to  wait  until  our  escape  should  strengthen  her 
womanhood  by  the  surroundings  of  a  civilized  life  to  tell  her  so, 
or  enable  her  to  conjecture  my  mind.  Thus  I  reasoned  with 
myself,  and  so  reasoning  I  acted  ;  but  I  must  admit  the  weak- 
ness of  a  deep  wish  in  me  at  times  to  interpret  her  by  looking 
into  her  eyes.  She  was  heavily  subdued,  as  you  will  conceive,  by 
the  conditions  of  our  life,  otherwise  I  witnessed  no  change  in 
her  manner.  There  was  nothing  to  be  divined  from  what  she 
said,  by  what  she  did,  or  what  she  looked,  and  no  gaze  was  ever 
more  eloquent,  more  darkly  beautiful  with  spirit,  thought,  and 
intelligence 


A  GALE  OP  WIND  257 

But  to  proceed,  for  this  threatens  to  become  mere  parish 
chatter. 

For  days  and  days  the  weather  had  been  lovely  and  quiet, 
the  sun  regularly  going  down  behind  the  island  rayless  in  the 
whirl  of  his  crimson  haze,  the  evening  opening  to  his  descent 
soft,  dark,  and  fragrant  as  the  heart  of  a  violet ;  nights  of 
marvellous  stillness,  saving  always  the  island  voices,  with  the 
firmament  that  seemed  to  hover  like  a  sheet  of  silver  dim  in 
places,  so  lustrous  was  the  star-shine,  so  thick  the  dust  of  the 
constellations  when  the  moon  was  gone  and  left  the  heavens 
uneclipsed  from  sea-line  to  sea-line ;  Avith  calm  blue  dawns 
^dazzling  fast  into  tropical  glory,  and  then  the_  long,  brassy, 
liery  day,  and  the  silent  sea  sparkling  with  the  tingling  glitter 
of  new  tin  under  the  soaring  luminary.  At  intervals  a  cloud 
would  show  no  bigger  than  a  man's  hand,  like  a  burst  of  steam 
from  a  boiler  on  the  horizon,  and  then  melt  out  into  the  blue 
air  as  though  the  heat  within  the  cincture  of  which  our  island 
was  the  centre  were  so  fierce  as  to  absorb  the  substance  of  it 
ere  it  could  float  to  its  shoulders. 

But  one  afternoon,  three  weeks  after  the  date  on  which  we 
had  been  set  ashore,  there  came  a  change.  That  a  shift  of 
weather  was  at  hand  one  might  have  gathered  by  the  general 
uneasiness  expressed  by  the  life  on  the  island.  The  birds' 
whistling  had  a  subdued  note,  the  parrots'  scream  was  softened 
somewhat,  the  ear  detected  a  hint  of  agitation  in  the  peculiar 
snoring  noise  made  by  the  tree-toad ;  there  was  a  constant 
hurried  flight  of  feathered  things  amongst  the  trees,  the  con- 
tinued restless  glint  of  coloured  plumage  darting  like  prismatic 
rays  amongst  the  leaves.  The  insects  bit  fiercely,  and  the 
universal  humming  rose  with  a  sharp  note  of  anger  and  fear 
in  the  shrilling  that  was  new  to  me.  Miss  Grant  told  me  that 
these  queer  symptoms  of  disquiet  might  be  prophetic  of  an 
earthquake,  and  certainly  the  intolerable  heat  of  that  day 
should  have  led  one  to  expect  such  a  thing.  Indeed  the  sultry 
air  seemed  to  press  down  upon  one  with  a  sensible  weight,  and 
with  the  stifling  breath  of  the  atmosphere  of  a  hot  oven. 

When  I  saw  the  blue  thickening  into  a  kind  of  dinginess  of 
no  colour  that  I  could  give  a  name  to,  with  a  rounding  of  the 
sea  at  the  edge  of  it  like  a  lifting  up  of  its  flood,  though  it 
would  be  no  more  than  the  shadowing  it  got  from  the  sky,  with 
a  sort  of  airy  whitish  gleam  the  whole  horizon  around,  I 
thought  to  myself,  if  a  tropical  outburst  is  to  happen,  it  is  as 
well  that  I  should  turn  to  at  once  and  provide  that  all  things 
under  hatches  shall  be  as  snug  as  possible.  So  I  fell  to  work  to 
bring  up  the  hatch-cover  I  had  knocked  to  pieces,  and  shipped 
the  fragments  into  a  compact  form  over  the  opening,  regretting 
that  ever  I  had  been  fool  enough  to  break  it  up.  I  then  took 
a  view  of  the  skylights  and  mused  a  while  over  them ;  for, 
thought  I,  when  they  are  shut,  the  sweep  of  wind  and  wet  will 
speedily  load  them  with  sand,  and  then,  with  the  entrance 


#58  MAROONED 

covered  by  the  hatch,  how  is  fresh  air  to  enter  these  cells  so 
that  we  shall  be  able  to  breathe  1  But  it  was  imperative  any 
way  that  the  skylight  should  be  closed,  if,  supposing  the  rain 
to  fall  heavily,  the  rooms  were  not  to  be  swamped  out  of  hand. 
I  tried  to  consider  how  the  buccaneering  folks  who  had  dug 
out  the  place  dealt  with  an  extremity  of  this  kind,  but  was 
quite  at  a  loss.  Some  trick  they  must  have  had,  but  it  was 
above  my  art.  I  conferred  with  Miss  Grant,  and  she  was  for 
facing  the  approaching  tempest  above.  I  told  her  that  she 
must  know  more  about  tropical  weather  than  I  did,  but  that 
it  seemed  to  me,  if  a  West  Indian  tempest  was  threatened  by 
the  gathering  gloom,  we  were  bound  to  perish  if  we  did  not 
shelter  ourselves  from  it ;  and  what  shelter  was  there  on  the 
island  save  the  vaults  in  which  we  lived. 

'  Yes,'  she  exclaimed,  '  but  should  they  be  flooded  we  must  be 
drowned  ;  for  how  shall  we  escape  when  the  water  is  pouring  in  V 

Well,  I  understood  this  danger  clearly,  and  was  fairly  non- 
plussed ;  and  indeed  how  we  should  have  managed,  had  the 
weather  fulfilled  its  threat  of  tropic  storm,  I  don't  know.  But 
very  fortunately  for  us,  a  little  before  sundown  the  sulky  dim- 
ness above  shaped  out  into  bodies  of  clouds  heading  south,  with 
a  sea-board  full  of  well-defined  shaggy  heads,  showing  rusty  to 
the  sun,  lifting  fast  in  the  north.  Then  it  came  on  to  blow,  in 
small  moans  at  first,  a  sullen  swell  leagues  in  length  rolling 
along  the  course  taken  by  the  clouds  and  swinging  silent  to  the 
island,  where  it  burst  in  thunder  with  a  roaring,  foamless  slide 
of  it  past  the  eastward  facing  beach.  But  the  moans  quickly 
grew  into  the  hooting  and  whistling  of  a  brisk  wind  increasing 
yet,  even  as  one  listened  to  it,  to  tempestuous  bellowing  high 
aloft,  with  a  wild  flying  of  the  dry  white  sand,  a  fierce  stooping 
and  shearing  of  the  trees,  through  which  the  wind  seethed  with 
a  sound  as  of  red-hot  hissing,  and  a  magnificent  smoky  scarlet 
that  put  a  lining  of  blood  whilst  it  lasted  to  the  shadows  flying 
athwart  the  angry  beams.  I  saw,  or  hoped  perhaps,  that  there 
was  to  be  no  rain,  and  that  was  comforting  ;  but  the  weight  of 
wind,  and  the  blinding  flashing  into  the  eyes  of  the  flying  coral 
grit  soon  forced  us  below ;  though  not  before  we  had  seen 
enough  of  the  suddenly  enraged  ocean  to  stamp  a  memory  fit  to 
last  for  life.  You  almost  feared  for  the  island,  so  thunderous 
was  the  blow  of  the  surge,  so  scaring  the  sight  of  the  pallid 
bodies  of  foam  sweeping  in  shrouds  of  faintness — like  the  colour 
of  the  brow  of  the  snow-cloud  discharging  its  white  burthen  to 
the  tempest-ythrough  the  evening  gloorn  that  rapidly  followed 
the  suns  going.  The  wind  struck  the  cheek  salt  and  heavy 
with  spray,  which  swept  through  the  lashed  and  writhing  trees 
with  the  crackling,  rending,  and  tearing  noise  of  storm  after 
storm  of  bullets  volleying  into  them. 

In  this  way  the  sand  became  in  a  very  short  time  too  wet  to 
fly,  nor  was  the  briny  showering  so  heavy  as  to  excite  in  us 
ton  least  apprehension  of  being  flooded  by  it.  With  the  sky- 


A  GALE   OF   WIND  259 

lights  closed  and  the  hatch-cover  on  we  were  snug  enough  in 
our  underground  chambers.  As  for  fresh  air,  more  than  we 
needed  came  blowing  down  through  the  cracks  of  the  cover  I 
had  broken  up,  and  whose  fragments  I  had  put  together  over 
the  orifice.  But  though  we  were  sheltered,  and  safer  maybe 
than  we  should  have  been  in  a  house,  having  regard  to  the  wind 
only,  there  was  to  be  no  rest  for  us  that  night.  The  mere  fear 
that  the  tempest  might  play  us  the  familiar  tropic  trick  of 
ceasing  all  at  once  with  a  driving  up  of  the  hindmost  clouds 
into  a  compact  blackness  of  vapour,  breaking  on  a  sudden  into 
a  mighty  roar  of  rain  heavy  enough  to  swamp  a  city  to  the 
very  roof  of  its  cathedral,  was  enough  to  keep  us  wide  awake  ; 
for  should  such  a  downpour  happen,  there  would  be  nothing 
for  it  but  to  instantly  rush  into  the  open,  before  the  rooms 
filled,  and  perish — if  perish  we  must — in  sight  of  the  sky, 
instead  of  drowning  like  rats  in  a  hole ! 

'Twas  as  wild  a  night  as  ever  I  remember ;  the  glass  frames 
above  were  soon  coated  with  wet  sand,  but  the  occasional  flash 
of  lightning  darting  out  of  some  rushing  cloud  glanced  with  a 
violet  glare  in  the  passage  through  the  chinks  in  the  cover  ;  but 
if  ever  thunder  followed  it  was  out-bellowed  by  the  hurricane, 
or  swept  by  the  headlong  rush  of  the  blast  clean  out  of  hearing. 
Our  cells  hummed  to  the  elemental  torment  for  all  the  world 
as  though  there  was  an  endless  procession  of  locomotives 
dragging  heavy  trains  of  cars  over  the  island.  We  had  hus- 
banded our  slender  resources  so  carefully  that  we  had  a  few 
wax  candles  left,  and  most  grateful  were  we  this  night  for  the 
light  one  of  them  gave  us.  Without  it  we  must  have  sat  in 
total  blackness  throughout  those  long  and  raging  hours. 

'It  is  the  proper  sort  of  storm,'  said  I  on  one  occasion  to  Miss 
Grant,  '  to  blow  vessels  ashore  here.  It  should  be  an  ill  wind 
indeed  if  it  blows  us  no  good.  What  an  imprisonment  is  ours  ! 
Enough  to  make  one  so  wicked  as  to  pray  for  a  shipwreck,  on 
chance  of  the  sight  of  a  survivor,  or  of  a  boat  washing  ashore, 
or  material  to  help  us  to  get  away.' 

'It  should  frighten  a  poor  shipwrecked  sailor  horribly,  I 
think,'  she  said,  'to  cleanse  that  glass  up  there  and  look  through, 
and  see  an  illuminated  room  with  a  man  and  woman  sitting 
in  it.' 

She  gave  a  little  hysteric  laugh,  bringing  her  hands  to  her 
eyes. 

It  was  a  very  nightmare  of  an  experience  then  to  my  mind, 
and  her  beauty  was  powerless  to  soothe  or  soften  it.  There 
were  three  weeks  of  this  life  working  in  us,  and  had  I  been 
alone,  though  I  should  have  kept  my  senses  sound  as  a  bell  to 
this  moment,  I  believe  I  must  have  fallen  mad  as  a  thirst-crazed 
sailor  before  the  dawn  broke.  Expectation  rose  into  positive 
agony  with  waiting  for  the  thunderous  subterranean  humming 
to  cease,  for  then  the  rain  might  come,  and  the  necessity  of 
carrying  my  companion  into  the  open  to  face  the  black  deluge, 

a  2 


260  MAROONED 

and  whatever  else  might  happen  there,  was  only  less  frightful  to 
my  overstrained  nerves  than  the  fancy  of  such  a  quick  flooding 
of  these  chambers  as  would  give  us  no  time  to  escape  from 
them.  A  man  should  wield  a  pen  above  my  power  to  put  such 
a  picture  of  us  and  of  this  room  before  you  as  might  make  you 
witness  it  even  dimly.  I  see  at  this  moment  the  candle  stuck 
in  a  bottle,  with  the  remains  of  our  poor  supper  of  such  odds 
and  ends  as  we  had  been  able  to  collect  still  upon  the  table— 
as  mocking  a  regale  as  ever  eye  rested  upon  ! — shadows  like  the 
reflection  of  human  forms  mopping  and  mowing  on  walls  and 
ceiling  to  the  slant  of  the  flame  stirred  by  small  hurryings  of 
draugnt  coming  out  of  the  black  corridor ;  the  black  shapes  of 
the  old  muskets  and  hangers,  the  doorway  yawning  past  the 
half -drawn  curtain,  courting  the  glance  to  the  dungeon  gloom 
within, — the  whole  gathering  a  preternatural  element  to  my 
imagination,  stirred  to  its  depths  as  it  was  by  the  trembling  of 
the  earth  to  the  shocks  of  the  sea  upon  its  northern  board,  from 
the  look  of  wild  beauty  my  companion's  eyes  got  from  the 
candle-flame,  as  they  showed  dark  to  it  out  of  her  face,  whitened 
to  the  very  complexion  of  a  spirit  by  our  vigil  and  the  thoughts 
that  worked  in  her. 

All  through  that  night,  down  to  an  hour  past  dawn,  it  blew 
a  fierce  and  heavy  gale  of  wind,  never  rising,  however,  to  the 
hurricane  force  that  is  to  be  expected  in  weather  of  this  kind 
hereabouts.  We  knew  by  the  cessation  of  the  humming  noise 
in  our  rooms  that  there  was  tranquillity  overhead,  but  the 
skylights  were  so  thickly  coated  with  sand  that  no  ray  of  light 
broke  through,  and  the  change  in  the  weather  was  only  to  be 
gathered  by  listening.  It  took  me  some  while  to  break  my 
way  out  through  the  entrance  in  consequence  of  the  heavy 
plastering  of  the  hatch-cover  by  the  wet  soil  hove  by  the  wind 
upon  it ;  and  seeing  that  our  dwelling-place  must  have  been 
air-tight  for  some  time,  it  was  strange  that  we  found  no  incon- 
venience from  breathing  the  atmosphere.  But  then,  to  be  sure, 
the  chambers  were  tolerably  big,  and  there  were  but  two  of 
us  to  breathe  in  them,  with  but  a  single  candle-flame  besides. 
I  battered  the  hatch  with  one  of  the  muskets,  and  so  forced  it 
open,  and  on  emerging  found  a  sullen,  wild,  though  silent  morn- 
ing, dense  masses  of  white  cloud  hanging,  brooding  fashion, 
over  the  sea,  with  their  violet  shadows  lifting  up  to  them,  as 
it  were,  great  lagoons  of  blue  sky  between,  the  sun  in  one  of 
them  shining  with  a  fiery  and  piercing  light. 

Indeed  the  wind  was  all  gone  j  but  there  was  a  great  swell 
still  running  which  made  the  sea  a  noble  and  majestic  sight. 
The  polished  flowing  of  the  vast  folds  caught  the  sunlight  as 
they  rolled,  till  under  the  luminary  the  ocean  seemed  to  be 
formed  of  sweeping  hills  of  molten  silver.  The  gale  had  played 
havoc  with  the  island  ;  many  trees  lay  fallen,  and  the  weather 
side  of  the  little  forest  showed  as  though  the  branches  there 
had  been  trimmed  by  the  shears  of  countless  gardeners  during 


A  GALE  OF  WIND  2GI 

the  night.  _  But  the  insects  and  flies  had  come  off  with  their 
lives.  Their  concert  was  prodigiously  shrill,  with  a  note  of 
thanksgiving  in  it,  Miss  Grant  thought;  but  it  sounded  to  me 
more  like  an  impertinent  hymn  of  triumph,  the  clamour  of 
multitudinous  insignificance,  as  one  might  say,  over  the  defeat 
of  the  mighty  forces  of  nature.  We  stood  eagerly  looking 
towards  the  sea  and  along  the  sands  far  as  our  sight  could  trace 
them,  not  knowing  what  might  have  happened  during  the  long, 
dark,  howling  hours ;  but  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen  saving 
the  mighty,  brilliant  blue  welter  sending  its  brows  washing  to 
the  edge  of  the  distant  sky.  We  then  made  for  the  hummock, 
,and  took  another  view  thence  ;  but  the  prospect  was  barren  of 
wreck ;  not  a  glimpse  of  the  wet  flash  of  a  fragment  of  black 
timber  wallowing — no  hint  of  any  sort  of  disaster  at  sea. 

I  will  not  say  I  was  disappointed,  for  I  had  scarce  felt  expect- 
ation ;  but  my  sickness  at  heart  was  deep — never  had  it  oeen 
deeper  in  those  three  weeks  that  we  had  spent  upon  this  island 
— when  I  sent  my  gaze  around  the  winding  and  waving  horizon, 
and  found  no  vaguest  symptom  of  life  in  it  outside  its  own 
ponderous  turbulence.  Down  on  the  northern  strand  the  surf 
was  vast  and  glorious,  with  the  bursting  of  the  swell  arching 
into  giant  breakers  upon  the  beach.  The  giddy  dazzle,  the 
creaming  splendour  detained  us.  The  prismatic,  snow-white 
boiling,  along  with  the  cold  thunder  of  the  headlong  and  recoil- 
ing masses  of  water,  were  grateful  beyond  expression  to  every 
sense  in  us,  coming  now  to  loathe,  as  we  did  after  many  days  of 
it,  the  stifling  stagnation  of  the  great  plain.  However,  the 
swell  of  the  sea  soon  flattens  when  there  is  no  wind,  and  by  noon 
the  heave  of  the  deep  was  languid  enough,  the  clouds  gone, 
saving  a  small,  pearl-coloured  heap  in  the  south,  and  here  and 
there  out  at  sea  faint  tricklings  of  air  delicately  smearing  the 
glassy  blue,  like  the  tarnishing  of  moistened  lingers  upon  a 
looking-glass. 

The  sight  of  the  fallen  trees  raised  an  idle  hope  in  me  of 
manufacturing  some  sort  of  fabric  out  of  them  by  which  we 
might  escape  ;  for  we  were  now  arrived  at  such  a  condition  of 
hopelessness  that,  sooner  than  go  on  lingering  in  this  island, 
which  we  dared  no  longer  believe  any  vessel  ever  approached 
close  enough  to  witness  a  signal  of  distress  in  the  smoke  of  our 
fire,  we  thought  it  would  be  better  to  take  our  chance  on  the 
roughest  contrivance  we  could  put  together,  and  launch.  We 
had  material  to  stitch  into  a  sail,  which,  under  Providence,  might 
blow  us  within  eyeshot  of  a  ship.  But  it  was  not  necessary  to 
look  long  at  the  fallen  timber  to  understand  that,  without  help 
and  without  tools,  it  was  as  useless  to  us  as  the  coral  sand  under 
our  feet.  What  were  we  to  do  ?  Was  it  the  will  of  Heaven  that 
we  should  end  our  days  on  this  beautiful  but  most  melancholy 
island  ? 

As  we  sat  conversing,  Miss  Grant  on  a  sudden  gave  way. 
Never  once  during  our  imprisonment  had  she  let  fall  a  tear ;  but 


262  MAROONED 

now  she  broke  down.  She  covered  her  face  with  her  hands,  wept 
most  piteously,  sobbing  as  if  her  heart  were  broken.  If  ever  I 
had  wondered  whether  I  was  in  love  with  her,  my  doubts  would 
have  ended  as  I  watched  her  in  her  grief,  waiting  for  the  first 
passion  of  her  sorrow  to  spend  itself  before  I  addressed  her. 
The  natural  timidity  of  a  woman  she  had  indeed  exhibited  on 
several  occasions  ;  but  taking  our  wild,  miserable,  most  distress- 
ful experiences  throughout,  her  spirit  had  shown  clear,  noble, 
heroic,  and  it  was  this  fine  character  in  her  that  made  her 
sudden  outbreak  miserable  to  witness.  One  would  have  given 
little  heed  to  such  a  display  of  emotion  as  this  in  a  woman  who 
had  been  fretful  and  mopish  during  our  trials,  with  tears  always 
at  hand,  and  a  weak  heart  aggravating  with  repinings.  But 
here  was  a  girl  whose  courage  had  proved  superior  to  every 
demand  made  upon  it ;  in  those  darker  and  sterner  experiences, 
I  mean,  which  might  well  have  caused  the  spirit  of  the  stoutest- 
hearted  man  to  shrink  within  him.  The  sweetness  of  her  nature 
had  never  failed  her.  Again  and  again  had  our  gloomy  under- 
ground haunt  resounded  with  the  gentle  melody  of  her  laughter, 
often  uttered,  as  every  instinct  in  me  knew,  for  no  other  purpose 
than  to  cheer  me ;  and  to  see  her  giving  way  now 

I  waited  a  little,  and  then  I  could  no  longer  bear  it.  I  took 
her  hand  and  put  it  to  my  lips  and  fondled  it,  and  said — but  I 
know  not  what  I  said,  only  that  I  was  sensible  my  secret  had 
slipped  from  me.  "Whether  she  gathered  the  import  of  my 
words,  whether  indeed  she  even  knew  what  I  spoke,  I  cannot 
tell.  The  cloud  passed  presently,  and  she  was  again  meeting 
my  gaze  with  steadfast,  shining  eyes,  the  more  brilliant  they 
looked  for  the  very  tears  she  had  wept.  Well,  thought  I,  every- 
thing that  happens  is  for  the  best,  we  must  believe  :  yet  for  the 
rest  of  the  day  the  memory  that  I  had  been  hurried  into  saying 
more,  much  more,  than  I  felt  I  ought  to  have  addressed  to  her, 
haunted  and  bothered  me ;  but  though  I  would  eye  her  keenly, 
if  furtively,  and  listen  to  her  with  an  attention  so  strained  that 
it  could  not  have  missed  a  single  note  in  her  utterance  inter- 
pretable  by  my  sensitiveness,  I  could  no  more  have  told,  when 
the  night  came  and  we  had  parted  to  take  our  rest,  that  she 
had  heard  or  heeded  what  I  had  said  to  her,  than  I  could  have 
predicted  what  was  to  happen  to  us  next  day. 

It  was  the  morning  of  the  twenty-first  day  of  our  captivity. 
I  was  awakened  from  a  dream  of  my  old  home  in  England — a 
cheerful  vision  of  an  English  landscape,  with  the  soft  May  sky 
shining  over  budding  hedgerows  and  the  delicate  green  of 
spring  vegetation — by  the  loud  singing  of  a  bird  perched  on  a 
ledge  of  the  open  skylight,  which  I  need  hardly  say  I  had  long 
before  purified  of  the  sand  that  the  storm  had  accumulated 
upon  it.  This  singing  had  something  of  the  note  of  a  linnet  in 
iti»  only  very  strong  and  piercing,  and  doubtlessly  it  was  the 
melodious  piping  that  set  me  dreaming  of  English  meadows 
»nd  woods,  and  the  house  in  which  I  was  brought  up  till  I  wwat 


A  GALE  OF  WIND  283 

to  sea.  I  had  passed  a  good  night,  felt  strengthened  and 
refreshed  by  the  long  rest,  and  at  once  kicked  off  my  rug  with 
the  dosign  of  taking  my  usual  morning  plunge  off  the  sand 
away  round  past  the  creek.  All  was  quiet  in  Miss  Grant's 
room.  I  climbed  the  steps,  and  found  it  a  brilliantly  clear 
morning,  roastingly  hot  after  the  pattern  of  the  days  here,  the 
sea  very  calm,  witn  a  light  swaying  like  a  long  sigh  running 
through  it,  and  a  soft  air  floating  languidly  down  out  of  the 
**orth,  with  just  weight  enough  to  put  a  trembling  into  the 
needle-like  rays  spiking  off  the  edge  of  the  sun's  light  in  the 
water,  as  though  the  seams  of  his  wake  were  ravelled.  I  cast  a 
careless  look  around  the  ocean,  tliinking  more  of  my  bath, 
maybe,  than  what  might  be  in  view  ;  for  this  looking  for  ships 
had  grown  into  a  habit,  and  habit  becomes  mechanical.  I  then 
xindressed  and  waded  to  the  height  of  my  hips,  a  depth  I  durst 
not  exceed  for  fear  of  sharks,  and  after  revelling  for  nigh  half 
an  hour  in  the  cold  blue  swing  of  the  little  breakers,  whose 
caressing  foam  sang  to  the  ears  Tike  the  seething  of  the  froth  of 
a  sparkling  wine,  I  stalked  again  on  to  the  beach,  dried,  and  fell 
to  dressing  myself. 

Whilst  I  was  thus  occupied  I  suddenly  spied  something  black 
out  upon  the  water,  but  how  far  off  I  could  not  tell.  I  took  it 
to  be  the  back  of  a  shark  at  first,  or  the  black  spine  of  a  porpoise 
that  would  round  away  out  of  sight  in  a  minute  ;  then  I  thought 
it  must  be  a  piece  of  wreck  ;  but  as  it  seemed  to  me  to  be  very 
slowly  growing,  I  walked  to  a  clump  of  trees  to  shelter  me  from 
the  heat  of  the  sun,  and  sat  down  to  watch  the  thing.  It  was 
little  more  than  a  speck  when  I  first  sighted  it,  but  after  wait- 
ing some  time,  and  observing  that  it  increased  in  size,  I  could 
not  question  that  it  was  approaching  the  island,  and  that  it  was 
either  a  boat  or  canoe  impelled  by  human  agency,  for  there  was 
no  sail  to  bring  her  along,  though  the  faint  breeze  favoured  her  ; 
nor,  though  the  tide  might  be  helping  her  a  bit,  was  the  set  of  it 
swift  enough  to  account  for  the  thing's  growth.  I  was  gazing 
intently  when  I  heard  Miss  Grant  calling.  I  hallooed  back, 
telling  ner  to  come  to  me.  She  arrived  presently,  exclaiming, 
as  she  approached,  that  she  was  growing  alarmed  by  my  long 
absertce.  I  pointed  to  the  object  on  ^he  water. 

'It  must  be  a  boat,  I  think/  I  cried.  'I  am  watching  it — 
waiting  to  see  what  it  means.' 

She  looked,  instantly  saw  it,  and  cried,  '  Oh  ! '  starting 
violently,  with  a  quick  clasping  of  her  hands,  and  then,  with 
her  manner  full  of  excitement,  came  and  sat  close  beside  me. 
'  Oh,  Mr.  Musgrave,  if  it  should  prove  a  boat ! ' 

'  It  is  a  boat ;  it  is  being  rowed  too.  Look  attentively,  and 
you  will  see  the  glint,  on  the  right-hand  side  of  it,  of  the  wet 
blade  of  an  oar  lifting  to  the  light.' 

1 T  see  it ! '  she  cried. 

My  mind  was  agitated  beyond  my  capacity  of  expressing 
the  commotion  raised  within  me  by  the  sight  of  the  boat.  I 


264  MAROONED 

seized  Miss  Grant's  hand  with  both  mine,  pressing  it  whilst  I 
cried  out  in  my  transport  that  a  chance  nad  come,  that  we 
might  now  regard  our  deliverance  as  certain,  that  my  frequent 
bitter,  imploring  prayers  were  heard  at  last,  and  we  were  now 
to  be  supplied  with  the  means  of  escaping.  The  distress  of  the 
sea  makes  a  very  child  of  a  man.  I  felt  the  tears  which  my 
eyes  refused  to  distil  scalding  at  my  heart.  One  may  bear  up 
stoutly  for  days,  for  weeks,  for  months  amid  the  misery  of 
solitude;  hope  dying  out  in  one  to  a  mere  spark  amid  the 
embers  of  dreams  ana  expectations — I  say,  one  may  endure  the 
heaviest  afflictions  the  sea  can  heap  upon  the  soul  with  a  lion's 
spirit ;  yet  it  will  be  strange  if,  when  succour  comes  at  last,  one 
do  not  give  way  as  a  little  child  might. 

Within  three-quarters  of  an  hour  of  my  first  catching  sight 
of  the  minute  speck,  it  had  enlarged  upon  the  calm  white 
heave  of  the  sea  to  the  proportions  of  what  was  apparently  a 
ship's  quarter-boat,  with  a  spot  of  red  in  her  that  puzzled  me, 
a  mast  like  a  hair  rising  out  of  the  black  rounding  of  the  gun- 
wales, and  an  occasional  gleam  of  oars  wielded  most  languidly 
and  intermittently,  as  though  handled  _by  a  dying  man.  Indeed, 
I  cannot  convey  how  suggestive  of  distress  was  this  slow  and 
irregular  motion  of  the  oars,  gatherable  from  the  sparkle  of 
them  whenever  the  blades  rose  languidly  from  the  blue  surface. 
Presently  I  saw  that  what  I  had  taken  to  be  a  spot  of  red  in  the 
boat  was  a  soldier's  jacket,  and  waiting  yet  a  little  while  longer, 
I  observed  that  the  fellow  was  a  negro.  There  was  no  other 
occupant  of  the  boat  to  be  seen.  I  ran  down  to  the  beach, 
followed  by  Miss  Grant,  to  motion  the  man  to  head  for  the 
beach  at  the  head  of  the  creek  ;  for  small  as  the  breakers  were, 
it  would  have  been  madness  to  imperil  so  precious  an  object  as 
the  little  fabric  by  grounding  her  amongst  them.  He  evidently 
understood  me,  for  he  pulled  a  little  with  his  left  hand  to  point 
his  boat  according  to  my  gestures,  and  then  let  go  both  oars 
to  stand  up,  with  his  hands  clasped  above  his  head,  and  his 
face  lifted  as  in  a  posture  of  entreaty  to  God,  whilst  his  body 
reeled  in  such  a  way  that  I  expected  to  see  him  go  overboard. 
He  next'  made  certain  signs,  pointing  to  his  mouth  and  then 
down  into  the  boat,  and  then  clasped  his  hands  again,  but  I 
could  not  understand  him.  I  shouted,  to  encourage  him,  con- 
tinuing to  point  towards  the  creek,  which  would  be  visible  to 
him,  and  presently  he  sat  down  and  fell  to  his  oars  afresh,  but 
rowing  so  weakly  that  it  was  miserable  to  watch  him.  He  made 
shift,  however,  to  bring  the  boat  within  a  fathom  or  two  of  the 
head  of  spit  of  sand  that  formed  one  side  of  the  entrance  to 
the  creek  :  then  looking  round,  he  got  his  port  oar  inboard  out 
of  the  thole-pins,  and  had  his  hand  on  the  loom  of  the  other, 
when  he  fell  back  and  disappeared. 

My  terror  lest  the  boat  should  drift  away  rendered  me  as 
reckless  as  if  I  had  fallen  crazy.  Without  giving  a  thought  to 
the  sharks  that  might  be  about,  I  waded  into  the  water  till  it 


A  STARTLING  APPARITION  265 

was  out  of  my  depth,  then  swam  with  the  utmost  fury?  and 
after  a  few  strokes  caught  hold  of  the  gunwale,  and  with  a 
hard  spring  rolled  head  over  heels  into  the  little  fabric,  and 
seizing  the  oar  that  lay  jammed  in  the  thole-pins,  I  headed  the 
boat  into  the  creek,  and  sculled  her  right  fair  to  the  gleaming 
round  of  the  little  inlet  without  so  much  as  glancing  at  what 
lay  inside  the  craft,  till  her  forefoot  was  aground  and  I  had 
leaped  ashore. 

CHAPTER  XXIX 

A  STARTLING  APPARITION 

THERE  was  a  second  man  in  the  boat,  a  negro  also.  He  lay 
dead  in  the  bottom,  a  dreadful  sight,  naked  to  the  waist,  and 
clothed  with  a  pair  of  sailor's  old  drill  trousers,  the  right 
leg  discoloured  by  many  blood-stains.  He  was  twisted,  as 
though  his  spine  was  broken,  with  his  breast  partly  turned 
towards  the  stern  of  the  boat,  whilst  his  knees,  which  were 
drawn  up,  pointed  forwards,  and  his  face  stared  straight  up, 
the  eyes  open  like  dull  glass,  and  the  skin  of  that  indescribable 
sort  of  greenish  ashen  hue  which  death  contrives  as  a  com- 
plexion for  the  dead  black  man.  The  other  fellow  was  on  his 
back,  as  he  had  fallen,  with  his  head  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat, 
and  his  legs  over  the  thwart.  He  still  breathed,  but  I  noticed 
the  foam  gathering  upon  his  lips  even  as  I  looked  on  for  a 
moment  or  two  at  this  terrible  picture.  He  was  dressed  in  a 
soldier's  or  marine's  coat,  a  cloth  round  about  his  loins,  and  his 
attenuated  cucumber  shanks  naked ;  an  old  ragged  Scotch  cap 
clung  to  his  woolly  head. 

It  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  tell  you  how  this  little  ocean 
tragedy  was  heightened  by  the  element  of  the  grotesque  in  it. 
There  was  no  sail  in  the  boat,  no  breaker  that  might  have  held 
water,  no  hint  of  the  miserable  blacks  having  sailed  or  been 
blown  away  with  so  much  as  a  bite  of  biscuit.  The  oars  were 
scarcely  more  than  paddles,  and  evidently  had  not  belonged  to 
the  little  fabric.  She  was  black  outside,  painted  white  within  ; 
clearly,  as  I  had  thought  at  the  beginning,  a  ship's  quarter- 
boat.  The  words  Prince  William  were  painted  in  smaU  black 
letters  on  her  stern,  inside  of  her.  Miss  Grant  overhung  the 
craft  in  a  posture  of  pity  and  horror. 

'  This  poor  fellow  in  the  bows  is  still  alive,'  she  cried. 

*I  see  that  he  is,' said  I ;  'we  will  help  him  in  an  instant ;  but 
the  value  of  this  boat  signifies  the  worth  of  our  lives,  and  we 
must  make  her  a  bit  securer  yet.  Please  pull  at  this  rope  as  I 
pull.' 

I  handed  a  bight  of  the  line  in  the  bows  to  her,  and  then  put 
my  hand  on  the  gunwale  at  the  head,  and  together  we  ran  her 
another  few  feet  out  of  the  water,  the  wet  keel  and  bottom  of 
her  slipping  readily  enough  up  the  ivory-like  grit  of  the  sand. 


2CS  MAROONED 

All  this  -was  done  as  swiftly  as  I  can  write  it. "  I  then  jumped 
into  the  boat,  and  with  some  trouble,  for  he  was  an  exceedingly 
heavy  man,  I  raised  the  negro  on  to  the  thwart,  and  set  his  back 
against  the  mast.  His  head  lolled  upon  his  shoulder  like  that 
of  a  person  hanging.  He  looked  at  me  with  a  gleam  of  intelli- 
gence in  the  lift  of  his  bloodshot  eyes,  and  his  lips  moved,  but 
the  merest  rattle  of  noise  trembled  through  the  foam  that  filled 
his  mouth.  He  raised  his  hand  and  pointed  to  his  throat. 

*  Why,  of  course ! '  cried  I ;  'I  must  have  been  mad  not  to 
perceive  it.  The  poor  fellow  is  dying  of  thirst.  Will  you  get 
some  water,  whilst  I  keep  him  propped  up  here  ? ' 

She  was  off  in  a  bounu  like  a  stag,  and  in  the  briefest  imagin- 
able time  returned  with  a  preserved  meat-tin  full  of  water, 
which  I  put  to  the  negro's  lips ;  but  the  moment  he  tasted  the 
cold  of  it  against  his  mouth  a  frenzy  seized  him.  He  grasped 
the  tin,  throwing  me  from  him  with  a  jerk  of  his  elbow  that 
was  like  to  have  broken  my  back  for  me  against  the  gunwale, 
and  uttering  a  strange  throaty  cry  that  made  one  think  of  the 
yell  of  a  hunted  negro  to  the  first  leap  of  a  bloodhound  upon 
him,  he  drank  the  whole  of  the  water  at  one  draught — a  full 
quart,  as  I  should  reckon,  for  the  tin  was  a  big  one — let  drop  the 
vessel,  flinging  both  his  hands  against  his  breast  in  the  manner 
of  a  man  furiously  striking  himself,  stood  bolt  upright  with  a 
most  mad  and  murderous  look  in  his  eyes  as  they  met  mine,  ere 
they  rolled  right  up  till  you  saw  nothing  but  the  crimsoned 
wliites  of  them,  and  then  without  a  groan  fell  backwards  across 
the  other  body  and  lay  motionless. 

I  looked  round  at  Miss  Grant.  *  The  draught  has  killed  him,  I 
fear,'  said  I. 

She  turned  away  her  head  with  her  hands  over  her  eyes.  I 
kneeled  down  and  grasped  the  poor  wretch's  wrist  that  showed 
like  a  bit  of  ebony  forking  out  of  the  ragged  sleeve  of  the  red 
coat,  but  could  feel  no  pulse.  I  then  felt  the  arm  of  the  man 
beneath  him,  designing  to  gather  if  he  lived,  but  instantly 
twitched  my  fingers  away  from  the  clammy  chill  of  the  unmis- 
takably dead  flesh.  I  next  soaked  a  handkerchief  in  salt  water, 
plucked  the  Scotch  cap  off  the  head  of  the  man  who  had  fallen, 
and  bathed  his  brows,  but  nothing  followed.  Once  a  movement 
as  of  muscular  contraction  went  in  a  twitch  through  him,  but 
the  drop  of  the  jaw  told  me  all  I  needed  to  learn. 

It  was  proper,  however,  that  I  should  let  him  lie  for  a  while 
to  make  sure  that  he  was  dead,  and  so  I  stepped  ashore,  and  to 
still  further  secure  this  precious  gift  that  had  come  to  us,  I 
earned  the  end  of  the  painter,  which  was  a  good  long  length  of 
coir  rope,  with  the  strands  at  the  extremity  showing  that  it 
had  parted,  to  a  tree  which  stood  near  the  head  of  the  creek, 
and  secured  it,  then  withdrew  with  Miss  Grant  to  the  shelter  of 
some  tufted  heads  of  the  cocoa  to  sit  down  and  rest  and  think  a 
little,  and  wait  to  observe  if  the  man  had  actually  expired. 

My  companion  was  greatly  overcome.    The  appearance  of 


A  STARTLING  APPARITION  26? 

the  negro,  the  white  foam  blanching  his  purple  lips,  and  the 
short,  stubborn  hair  under  his  nose  and  chin,  the  deeper  horror 
that  was  put  into  his  anguish  by  the  absurdity  of  his  apparel, 
the  suddenness  of  his  rising,  the  frightfulness  of  his  collapse 
after  he  had  drained  the  tin,  with  a  swing  of  his  hands  to  his 
heart,  and  the  terrifying  glare  of  his  eyes,  had  proved  so  over- 
whelming a  picture,  with  the  unexpectedness  on  top  of  it 
besides  of  the  body  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  that  she  could 
scarcely  raise  her  head ;  shudders  went  through  her,  and  I 
feared  she  would  faint.  Dreadful  indeed  it  was,  but  the  pitiful- 
ness  of  it,  I  am  almost  ashamed  to  say,  was  largely  qualified  to 
my  mind  by  the  transport  of  joy  with  which  I  viewed  the  boat, 
and  understood  that  the  time  of  our  deliverance — a  chance  not 
to  have  been  dreamt  of  two  or  three  hours  before — had  come  to 
us.  It  needed  but  a  very  brief  spell  of  thinking  to  arrive  at 
how  this  thing  had  happened.  As  one  who  had  used  the  ocean, 
I  could  not  fail  to  see  it  all  clearly  and  quickly.  In  fact  the 
parted  strands  of  the  coir  line  told  me  the  tale.  It  was  no 
painter,  but  such  a  rope  as  a  boat  would  ride  astern  of  a  ship 
by.  It  had  broken,  maybe,  in  the  gale  that  had  stormed  over 
us  two  nights  before,  and  the  boat  had  gone  adrift  with  these 
negroes  in  her,  without  a  sail,  with  a  rudder  that  was  without  a 
tiller,  without  water,  and  without  food. 

I  waited  for  some  time,  and  went  to  the  boat  to  have  another 
look  at  the  man,  and  then  his  appearance  persuaded  me  that  he 
was  dead.  I  was  heartily  grieved  that  this  should  have  been  so, 
for  now  that  he  lay  at  rest  he  showed,  methought,  a  very  bland 
and  honest  countenance,  besides  being  of  a  most  muscular  and 
robust  make  ;  and  I  felt  that  had  lie  lived  he  might  have  proved 
of  the  utmost  use  to  us,  not  as  a  pilot  only,  and  as  one  perhaps 
who  would  know  the  situation  of  this  island  and  its  name,  but 
as  an  assistant  to  help  me  to  rig  the  fabric  and  navigate  her. 
However,  the  truth  lay  before  me ;  and  I  suppose  these  hard 
island-experiences  of  ours  having  rendered  me  extremely  prosaic 
and  matter-of-fact  in  directions  which  at  another  time  would 
have  stirred  all  the  sentiment  in  me  to  its  depths,  I  determined 
to  deal  with  the  bodies  without  ado^>  So  looking  around  me,  I 
picked  up  two  good  big  stones,  one  of  which  I  secured  to  the 
body  of  the  man  who  had  just  died  by  the  cloth  round  about 
his  middle,  whilst  I  attached  the  other  to  the  second  body  in  a 
manner  I  need  not  describe ;  then  without  saying  a  word  to 
Miss  Grant,  who  sat  watching  me,  clearly  understanding  my 
intentions,  I  unhitched  the  Hue  from  the  tree,  shoved  the  boat 
afloat,  ana  sculled  her  clear  of  the  creek  where  the  water  was 
deep,  and  tumbled  the  bodies  overboard.  It  was  as  odious  a  bit 
of  necessary  work  as  ever  mortal  man  could  put  his  hand  to. 
Hot  as  the  sun  was,  the  job  made  me  feel  as  cola  as  if  the  chill  of 
an  English  November  night  w<;re  upon  me  ;  but  I  breathed  more 
freely  when  I  came  to  scull  myself  back  to  the  shore,  and  when 
I  stepped  out  with  the  end  of  the  line  in  iny  hand,  the  earlier 


288  MAROONED 

emotion  of  joy  that  the  possession  of  the  little  craft  had  raised 
was  again  so  active  in  my  heart  that  I  could  scarce  hold  myself 
from  singing  like  a  boy  at  the  top  of  my  voice. 

The  morning  was  already  advanced,  and  we  had  not  yet  broken 
our  fast.  I  disliked  the  idea  of  turning  my  back  upon  the  boat, 
lost  on  my  return  I  should  find  her  gone.  However,  her  forefoot 
being  hard  and  fast  ashore,  and  the  line  in  the  bows  secured  to 
the  trees,  it  was  impossible  that  the  flow  of  the  tide  in  the  creek 
could  play  me  any  ugly  tricks  with  her  ;  so  we  walked  to  our 
underground  chambers  to  get  some  breakfast.  I  remember  that 
our  repast  consisted  of  cold  turtle-steak,  plantains,  sweet  oranges, 
and  a,  draught  of  cold  water  from  the  brook.  The  stock  of 
provisions  that  had  been  set  ashore  with  us  was  now  exhausted  ; 
we  had  a  small  quantity  of  spirits  left,  but  the  biscuit,  tongues, 
preserved  meat,  and  the  like,  were  gone.  Such  a  breakfast  as 
ours  was  hardly  fare  to  grow  fat  on,  but  it  was  wholesome  and 
cool,  and  perhaps  the  sort  of  food  that  nature  intended  for  the 
use  of  such  human  beings  as  should  live  in  this  island.  It  seems 
to  me  that  the  properest  food  for  the  people  who  inhabit  a 
country  is  that  which  grows  good  for  eating  in  it.  Think  of 
Broadwater's  bill  of  fare,  for  instance,  under  such  a  dog-star  as 
raged  over  the  spot  of  earth  we  had  been  marooned  upon  ! — roast 
pork,  massive  sausages,  turbid  pea-soup,  and  the  atmosphere 
all  the  while  so  hot  that  you  heard  the  spikes  and  leaves  and 
tendons  of  the  breathless  vegetation  quivering  with  tingling 
noises  like  the  faint  crackling  in  burnt  paper,  or  in  a  sheet  of 
tin  curling  to  the  roasting  glare  of  a  furnace  1  I  was  mighty 
sick  of  turtle,  and  so  was  Miss  Grant,  but  then  it  was  a  sort  of 
meat  in  its  way,  and  combined  to  make  out  a  meal  of  the  fruit, 
which  was  too  delicious  to  weary  us.  One  helped  the  other,  and 
rendered  the  whole  diet  nutritious ;  and  maybe  it  was  the 
simplicity  of  the  fare  that  kept  us  welL  We  had  been  a  long 
three  weeks  upon  the  island,  yet  Miss  Grant  had  never  once 
uttered  a  complaint  of  indisposition,  whilst  for  my  part  I  was 
almost  unreasonably  hearty  in  face  of  the  heavy  anxieties  that 
weighed  down  my  spirits. 

'  Thank  God,'  said  I,  with  a  look  round  the  room,  as  I  seated 
myself  with  my  companion  to  our  lenten  meal,  '  we  shall  soon 
be  taking  a  long  farewell  of  this  most  melancholy  haunt.  It 
would  have  been  strange  indeed  if  that  ill  wind  the  other  night 
blew  us  no  good.  A  boat  is  the  next  best  thing  to  a  ship/ 

'How  strange  it  is,'  she  exclaimed,  'to  watch  the  working  of 
the  hand  of  fate  I  Ashore,  it  is  an  influence,  a  hidden  govern- 
ment ;  but  at  sea  it  is  as  apparent  as  a  billow,  or  the  rising  of  a 
cloud.  One  saw  that  in  the  boat  as  she  approached.  Fate  was 
at  her  helm,  and  if  I  were  an  artist,  and  desired  to  materialize 
the  conception  of  fate,  and  make  it  a  visible  thing,  I  should 
figure  two  people  standing  as  we  did,  hopeless  arid  imprisoned 
on  this  island,  watching  the  boat  coining  out  of  the  tiny  blot  it 
made  in  the  far  blue  distance,  gliding  towards  us  without  a 


A  STARTLING  APPARITION  269 

swerve,  with  a  final  complete  surrendering  of  itself  to  us,  as  it 
were,  through  the  death  of  the  two  poor  creatures  in  it.'  Her 
fine  eyes  shone  to  the  high  religious  mood  that  was  in  her. 
'  Little  wonder,'  she  continued, '  that  we  should  always  be  saying 
God's  hand  is  most  plain  on  the  deep.  The  Ancient  Mariner 
was  not  mad  when  he  spied  the  little  bark  with  Death  on  board 
gambling  with  a  woman  for  human  souls.  The  sea  is  to  me 
so  much  more  wonderful  than  the  land,  that  I  believe  I  could 
credit  any  amazing  thing  that  should  be  related  of  it.  Where 
else  does  one  come  closer  to  one's  Maker  1  Oh,  Mr.  Musgrave, 
it  seemed  to  me  like  seeing  the  Divine  finger  itself  when  I 
watched  that  boat  growing  upon  the  calm  sea,  urged,  as  we  know 
now,  by  dying  hands.' 

She  shuddered,  and  pressed  her  fingers  to  her  temples.  She 
had  been  overtaxed,  nor  was  the  horror  wrought  in  her  by  the 
incident  of  the  morning  to  be  soothed  by  the  deep  excitement 
that  the  opportunity  for  escaping  from  this  island  brought 
with  it.  Hysteria,  I  thought,  was  bound  to  dog  the  heels  of 
such  moralizing  as  she  had  started  on ;  so  there  was  nothing 
for  it  but  to  be  blunt  and  prosaic,  though,  but  for  the  fear  I 
had  that  the  humouring  of  the  mood  she  was  in  would  be  bad 
for  her,  I  could  have  listened  all  day.  It  was  not  so  much 
what  she  said  as  the  thoughts  which  lay  behind  her  words, 
which  spoke  in  her  face,  making  her  beauty  eloquent  with  the 
rich  fancies  flushing  to  her  delicate  cheeks,  and  flashing  a 
brighter  light  yet  into  her  eyes. 

'We  shall  have  to  go  to  work  briskly,'  said  I;  'if  all  were 
prepared  I  would  start  at  once.' 

She  came  back  to  herself  with  an  effort,  and  brought  her 
hands  from  her  white  brows  with  a  faint  smile,  as  if  she  under- 
stood what  was  in  my  mind  concerning  her. 

'What  is  to  be  done,  Mr.  Musgrave,  that  I  may  know  my 
share?'  she  asked. 

'Well,  first  of  all  we  must  victual  the  boat,'  said  I ;  'we  have 
bottles  enough  for  the  storing  of  fresh  water,  and  you  can  do  a 
useful  hour's  work  by  hunting  for  the  corks  which  we  have 
drawn  and  thrown  away,  and  fitting*them  to  the  bottles  afresh. 
For  food  we  must  be  content  with  the  handsomest  stock  of 
craw-fish,  fruit,  and  turtle  that  we  can  contrive.  The  boat 
wants  a  tiller.  That  is  easily  managed.  She  also  wants  a  sail, 
which  we  shall  have  to  manufacture  out  of  your  shawls.  1 
must  likewise  make  a  yard  for  the  sail,  which  may  be  got  from 
a  bough  off  one  of  the  fallen  trees.  This  done,  our  business 
will  be  to  embark  and  head  away  west.' 

'It  is  a  little  boat  for  so  great  a  sea,'  she  said,  in  a  low 
voice. 

'  Ay,'  said  I,  '  but  then  the  film  of  land  that  was  visible  from 
the  cross-trees  of  the  Iron  CVotwi  is  not  too  far  distant  for  her  to 
fetch,  and  it  will  be  mighty  odd  indeed  if  that  streak  of  blue 
haze  which  the  men  talked  about  be  not  an  inhabited  island, 


270  MAROONED 

•with  houses  to  lodge  in,  and  tho  means  of  proceeding  to  Jar.irtica, 
which  can't  be  far  distant ;  whence  our  next  departure  will  be 
for  Rio,  and  for  Alexander.' 

She  looked  down  suddenly,  with  tho  pearl  of  her  teeth  showing 
over  the  under-lip  she  slightly  bit,  then  her  eyes  sought  mine 
again  with  a  soft  gaze  so  full  of  inquiry  that  my  heart  seemed 
to  stop  for  a  breath,  as  though  to  catch  the  words  that  must 
follow  her  look  ;  but  she  did  not  speak.  I  jumped  up. 

'I  must  go  to  work  now,'  cried  I ;  'in  fact  it  frightens  me  to 
think  of  the  boat,  lying  half  dry  as  she  is,  being  un  watched.' 

She  rose  too,  with  the  air  of  one  starting  from  deep  thought. 
*  My  business  then,'  said  she,  smiling,  '  is  to  look  for  corks,  and 
fit  them  to  the  bottles  ?' 

'  If  you  please,'  said  L 

For  the  rest  of  the  day  I  worked  very  hard,  stripped  to  my 
trousers  and  shirt,  with  my  wide  straw  hat  to  shelter  me,  scarce 
intermitting  my  labour  but  to  eat  and  drink,  and  obtaining 
quite  fortitude  enough  out  of  the  prospect  of  getting  away  from 
this  island  with  Miss  Grant,  to  enable  ine  to  defy  the  intense 
heat.  I  found  amongst  the  fallen  trees  the  very  bough  to  serve 
my  turn,  and  without  much  difficulty  I  severed  it  with  my  little 
saw,  trimmed  it  of  its  leaves,  and  proportioned  it  to  the  size  of 
the  required  yard.  I  also  cut  a  tiller  for  the  boat.  This  work  I 
was  able  to  accomplish  under  the  shelter  of  the  trees.  Miss  Grant 
possessed  several  shawls  of  different  textures  and  colours,  and 
when  she  had  collected  the  bottles,  and  gathered  what  corks 
there  were  to  find,  I  set  her  tacking  some  of  these  shawls  to- 
gether into  the  shape  of  a  sail,  which  she  managed  by  perforating 
them  with  a  bodkin,  and  then  connecting  them  with  tape,  of 
which  she  had  a  little  parcel.  She  made  no  trouble  over  mutilat- 
ing her  shawls^  though  I  ca,nnot  but  think  that  the  first  thrust 
of  lier  bodkin  into  them  must  have  caused  her  a  pang.  I  cut  off 
a  short  length  of  the  coir-rope,  and  got  yarns  enough  out  of  it 
to  convert  into  as  many  robands  as  were  necessary  to  connect 
the  head  of  our  queer  sail  to  the  yard.  There  was  still  plenty  of 
line  left  for  a  tack  and  sheet  and  halliards,  which  I  rove  through 
a  sheave  in  the  head  of  the  mast.  My  impatience  gave  me  very 
great  energy  indeed.  We  had  a  good  supply  of  fresh  turtle, 
which  needed  boiling,  and  this,  with  other  matters  which  it 
would  only  weary  you  to  specify,  gave  my  fair  companion  plenty 
to  do.  I  was  resolved  not  to  quit  the  island  without  being  well 
stocked  with  food,  for  should  it  come  on  to  blow  from  the  west- 
wards, I  foresaw  that  our  sail  would  not  help  us,  that  we  should 
not  be  able  to  lay  up  to  the  wind  more  than  six  or  seven  points, 
so  that  we  should  stand  to  be  blown  away  into  the  Atlantic 
eastwards,  where  we  might  spend  days  without  a  view  of  a  ship. 
My  hope  was  too  high  perhaps  to  suffer  me  to  contemplate  such 
a  probability  as  this  with  the  least  notion  of  its  coming  to  pass, 
but  my  seafaring  instincts  governed  me  without  my  perhaps 
being  very  sensible  of  their  influence,  and  I  schemed,  ill  a 


A  STARTLING  APPARITION  271 

mechanical  sort  of  way  almost,  so  to  provision  the  boat  that 
you  might  have  thought  we  intended  to  sail  to  England. 

When  the  cool  of  the  evening  came,  I  plucked  some  hundreds 
of  plantains  and  oranges,  which  I  carefully  stowed  away  in  the 
little  lockers  aft  that  served  as  seats  in  the  boat's  stern,  and  I 
then  fired  a  torch  and  waded  into  the  sea  for  craw-fish  in  the 
manner  I  have  before  described,  meeting  with  a  more  plentiful 
harvest  than  had  at  any  other  time  happened  to  me,  insomuch 
that  I  had  to  give  up  stooping  and  throwing  them  to  Miss  Grant 
through  sheer  aching  of  my  back,  though  the  sandy  bottom  was 
still  black  with  the  dusky,  lizard-like  shapes  of  the  creatures 
-ci-awling  into  the  sheen,  when  I  extinguished  my  torch  to  step 
ashore.  I  also  provided  the  boat  with  a  stock  of  cocoa-nuts,  but 
I  never  could  discover  a  single  turtle's  egg,  spite  of  my  earnest 
exploring  of  the  sand  for  several  nights  running  during  those 
three  weeks. 

We  were  wearied  rather  than  sleepy  when  the  darkness  was 
deepening  into  midnight.  There  was  a  young  moon  in  the  sky, 
with  a  wire-like  waving  of  silver  under  her  in  the  glooming  sea, 
that  spread  very  darkly  to  the  stars.  I  had  still  several  bundles 
of  cheroots  left,  and  lighting  one  of  them,  I  brought  our  camp- 
stools  close  down  to  the  wash  of  the  ocean,  where  the  sand 
stretched  like  ivory  glimmering  to  the  dusk,  for  the  cool  of  the 
atmosphere  upon  the  watert  and  to  get  away  from  the  trees,  in 
whose  shadows  the  suffocating  air  of  the  day  seemed  to  linger 
as  though  imprisoned.  This  was  to  be  our  last  night  on  the 
island,  and  neither  of  us  could  think  yet  awhile  of  shutting 
ourselves  up  underground.  The  phosphorescence  of  the  water 
was  shown  by  the  light-green  flashings  which  broke  from  each 
little  purring  breaker,  as  it  melted  into  yeast  and  seethed  soft 
as  snow  up  the  coral  strand.  But  the  ocean  lay  too  silent  and 
still  for  the  fires  to  show  themselves  out  upon  its  breast,  if  it 
were  not  that  here  and  there  at  intervals  you  spied  a  greenish, 
smoke-like  burst,  as  though  some  huge  jelly-fish  were  shining 
under  the  surface,  in  the  black  bro^  of  the  silent  swell  that  ran 
without  sound  and  without  break.  The  outline  of  our  boat 
stood  clear  like  a  sketch  in  ink  against  the  sand  on  the  other 
side  of  the  creek, 

'We  shall  have  much  to  tell,' said  I,  'when  we  are  released 
from  this  place  ;  more  than  many  will  think  credible,  I  dare  say. 
Tis  almost  like  some  old  Arab's  yarn,  this  marooning  of  a  young 
man  and  a  lady,  the  old  piratical  lair  underground  yonder,  the 
incident  of  the  monkey,  and  strangest  of  all,  at  least  to  my 
mind,  the  arrival  of  that  boat  there  this  morning  with  its  tragic 
burden  of  dead  and  dying  blacks.  What  will  Alexander  think  ?' 

'If  our  meeting  is  much  longer  delayed,'  she  answered,  'he 
will  think  us  lost. 

'  What  grief  for  him,  poor  fellow  1 '  said  I ;  '  but  then,  you 
know,  the  meeting  will  be  the  sweeter  for  its  unexpectedness.' 

She  made  no  answer ;  nor  indeed  was  I  much  surprised  by 


#2  MAEOONED 

her  silence.  In  truth.  I  had  grown  somewhat  accustomed  to  * 
reserved  attitude  in  her  whenever  I  spoke  of  her  sweetheart. 
However,  I  was  in  the  humour,  I  cannot  say  why,  I  am  sure 
to  twang  this  chord  just  a  little  longer. 

*  Now/ said  I,  'as  to-morrow  will  see  us  under  way — and  the 
night,  please  God,  safely  on  board  ship,  or  within  view  of  the 
lights  of  a  little  town  in  some  island  hidden  behind  the  sea-line — 
I  feel  equal  to  talking  a  bit  freely,  Miss  Grant.  I  have  not  set 
eyes  on  Alexander  for  years.  He  was  a  fine,  handsome  young 
fellow  when  at  sea  with  me  ;  always  bold  enough  to  excite  my 
admiration ;  but  since  then  his  courage  seems  to  have  increased. 
Do  I  admire  it  in  its  excess  ?  I  will  not  say  so.  The  emotion 
it  excites  is  one,  I  fear,  of  supreme  wonderment  only.' 

The  moonlight  was  thin,  but  I  could  see  her  looking  at  me 
by  it,  with  a  little  contraction  of  her  white  brows  as  evidence 
or  the  intensity  of  her  gaze.  'Some  satirical  fancy  about 
Alexander  has  occurred  to  you  ? '  she  exclaimed. 

'  No,  Miss  Grant,  nothing  of  the  sort,  on  my  honour.' 

'What  is  this  courage  of  his  that  you  wonder  at?' 

4  The  astonishing  pluck  he  showed  in  confiding  you  to  my 
care.'  She  did  not  or  would  not  understand.  '  Here  am  I,'  I 
continued,  'a  young  man,  for  days  and  days  in  the  society  of  a 
lady  of  whose  charms  he  has  proved  himself  very  sensible  in- 
deed.' She  uttered  a  soft  laugh  scarcely  above  her  breath. 
'  NoWj  would  not  my  cousin,  as  a  young  man  himself,  conclude 
that  it  could  be  scarcely  possible  for  me  to  be  so  incessantly 
•with  you  without — without — well  now,  what  I  mean  to  say  is, 
without  my  falling  in  love  ? ' 

'  He  would  not  think  of  such  a  thing,  Mr.  Musgraye.' 

'  Oh,  I  fancy  he  would.  A  thought  of  the  kind  is  bound  to 
occur,  and  it  is  this  triumphing  of  nope  in  him  over  what  must 
lie  at  his  heart  with  the  strength  of  a  conviction,  that — ' 

I  was  arrested  by  her  suddenly  clutching  at  my  hand ;  her 
swift  fierce  grasp,  as  I  thought  it  for  the  instant,  almost  took 
my  breath  away.  '  Heaven  forgive  me ! '  I  mentally  ejaculated, 
*I  have  aroused  the  Spanish  blood  in  this^woman.  I — I — ' 

'  Look,  Mr.  Musgrave ! '  she  exclaimed,  in  a  tone  that  thrilled 
to  my  ear  with  the  fear  in  it, '  what  is  that?' 

^  Her  face  was  turned  towards  the  creek,  and  following  the 
direction  of  her  glance,  I  observed  the  figure  of  a  man  standing 
a  little  on  this  side  of  the  spot  where  our  luggage  had  been 
deposited  by  the  boat's  crew.  He  was  clear  of  the  shadows  of 
the  trees,  and  it  was  bright  sand  where  he  stood,  and  in  the 
light  of  it  lifting  into  the  atmosphere  he  resembled  a  statue  cut 
in  ebony.  He  was  motionless  save  for  the  occasional  raising  of 
his  hand  to  his  mouth  from  time  to  time,  as  of  a  man  taking  a 
bite  at  something  in  his  fist. 

' Gracious  mercy ! '  I  exclaimed,  a  little  above  my  breath,  'not 
another  monkey,  I  hope.  The  deuce  is  in  this  Island.  But  he  is 
too  big  surely  even  for  a  baboon.1 


A  STAETLING  APPARITION  273 

'Tt  is  a  man  !'  whispered  Miss  Grant,  'and  a  black  man  too.' 

*  There  must  be  another  boat  come  ashore,'  said  I. 

I  stood  staring  a  little,  waiting  to  see  whether  he  would 
advance,  and  what  he  meant  to  do.  My  heart  beat  fast.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  express  to  you  now  startling  was  the 
apparition  of  that  black  figure.  The  suddenness  and  unexpected- 
ness of  the  apparition  was  rendered  the  more  alarming  by  the 
faintness  of  the  moonlight.  Standing  where  he  was,  the 
brilliance  of  the  full  orb  would  have  interpreted  him ;  but 
though  he  stood  jet-like  upon  the  sand,  he  yet  seemed  to  mingle 
with  the  dusk  in  a  visionary  sort  of  way,  and  this  blending  of 
.  the  blackness  of  him  with  the  gloom  caused  him  to  appear  as 
phantasmal  as  though  he  were  the  veritable  shade  of  some  negro 
anciently  murdered  for  the  sentinelling  by  his  spirit  of  hidden 
treasure  in  the  place. 

'  Are  there  others  about,  I  wonder  ? '  said  I.  I  sent  a  swift 
look  towards  the  forest  and  past  it,  but  all  was  motionless.  I 
bent  my  ear  with  the  fancy  of  catching  the  notes  of  voices 
beyond  where  the  man  stood,  suspecting  that  his  boat  had 
arrived  off  the  western  sand;  but  no  sound  of  the  kind 
penetrated  the  distracting  shrilling  of  the  crickets. 

*  He  is  watching  us ! '  exclaimed  Miss  Grant. 

It  was  time  to  end  this.  In  fact  the  more  one  stared  at  the 
dusky  shape,  with  its  rising  and  falling  arm,  the  more  one  stood 
to  grow  afraid  of  it. 

'  Hallo  there ! '  I  sang  out,  walking  a  little  way  towards  the 
figure,  '  who  are  you,  and  where  have  you  come  from  ? ' 

No  answer  was  returned,  but  the  figure  moved  uneasily,  as  if 
uncertain  how  to  act.  I  nailed  again,  still  advancing  towards 
him,  Miss  Grant  keeping  close  by  my  side ;  and  then  he  ap- 
proached us,  but  very  slowly,  whether  through  physical  weakness 
or  fear  I  could  not  say.  He  was  sufficiently  close  now  to  enable 
me  to  make  out  that  he  was  a  negro,  and  I  was  sensible  at  sight 
of  him  of  a  sickening  chill  coming  into  me,  though  at  that 
moment  certainly  I  could  not  have  accounted  for  the  sensation. 
A  wild  fancy  entered  my  head,  wdrking  almost  like  a  touch  of 
insanity  there,  that  I  had  seen  the  man  before.  Was  it  the 
build  of  him  t  Was  it  his  gait  ?  I  could  not  say.  He  was  still 
too  far  distant  to  enable  me  to  see  what  clothes  he  wore,  if  in- 
deed he  were  dressed  ;  but  I  remember  coming  to  a  stand  with 
a  coldness  about  my  forehead  as  though  some  icy  air  were 
fanning  me,  whilst  I  let  fly  my  breath  with  a  sound  that  came 
very  near  to  a  cry.  On  a  sudden  Miss  Grant  screamed  out, 
stepping  in  a  terrified  way  backwards,  then  coming  to  me  again 
and  clutching  my  arm. 

'  It  is  a  ghost ! '  she  cried ;  'it  is  one  of  the  men  you  buried  to-day. 
Look  at  the  soldier's  coat  on  him — at  the  white  cloth  under  it ! ' 

He  was  now  near  enough  to  render  these  features  unmistakable. 
The  red  of  his  ragged  jacket  stole  put  ashen  to  the  wan  light ; 
round  his  loins  was  the  cloth  to  which  I  had  secured  the  stone 


274  MAROONED 

I  had  sunk  him  by.  Nothing  was  wanting  to  Mm  but  hia 
Scotch  cap,  and  that  I  knew  he  would  not  possess,  as  I  had 
removed  it  to  bathe  his  head,  whilst  on  noticing  it  that  after- 
noon lying  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  I  had  chucked  it  overboard 
into  the  creek.  I  stood  stock  still,  as  though  some  blast  of 
lightning  had  struck  me  dead.  Very  distinctly  indeed  do  I 
recollect  the  sensation  of  the  stirring  of  the  hair  upon  my  head, 
an  effect  I  had  once  looked  upon  as  a  mere  poetic  imagination, 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  extremest  form  of  terror  in  real  life. 
The  dew  started  from  my  brows,  and  my  hands  turned  as  wet 
as  though  I  had  lifted  them  dripping  from  a  basin  of  oil.  Had 
I  endeavoured  to  run  away  my  legs  must  have  failed  me.  I  felt 
Miss  Grant  trembling  from  head  to  toe,  in  the  vibratory,  nervous 
grasp  she  had  of  my  arm.  Why,  here  was  a  man  who  hud  at  least 
twelve  hours  before  fallen  dead  in  our  presence,  and  whom  I 
had  soon  afterwards  buried  in  the  sea,  securing  him  against  the 
possibility  of  rising  by  a  sinker  weighty  enough  to  keep  two 
such  fellows  down  ;  here  was  this  same  man,  I  say,  now  stand- 
ing before  me,  stalking  out  of  the  forest^  it  would  seem,  instead  of 
out  of  the  ocean,  dressed  as  I  had  buried  him — a  dusky  outline 
with  a  black  face  combining  with  the  gloom,  and  his  eyes  touched 
with  the  faint  sparkles  of  the  moonlight  that  he  confronted. 

*  Oh,  speak  to  him  !     What  is  it  ? '  exclaimed  Miss  Grant. 
Thrice  I  endeavoured  to  articulate,  but  my  tongue  clove  to 

the  roof  of  my  mouth,  dry  and  parched  as  the  sand  upon  which 
we  stood  -}  but  at  the  fourth  effort  I  managed  to  find  my  voice, 
and  nothing  huskier  ever  rattled  in  human  throat. 

*  In  God's  name,'  I  said. '  who  are  you  ? ' 

He  answered,  but  in  a  language  I  did  not  know. 

*  It  is  Spanish,'  whispered  Miss  Grant, '  negro  Spanish.    He 
is  not  a  ghost  then ;  but  oh,  what  can  he  be  ?    He  was  dead, 
Mr.  Musgrave,  when  you  buried  him.' 

'  Do  you  speak  Spanish,  Miss  Grant  ? '  said  L 

She  answered,  yes. 

'For  Heaven's  sake  then,  address  him,  and  resolve  this 
horrible  mystery,'  I  cried. 

But  she  was  too  terrified  to  speak  to  him  yet.  She  continued 
to  cling  to  me  with  shivers  chasing  her.  Why,  the  heart  of  a 
Boadicea  might  have  swooned  to  such  an  apparition.  And 
then  the  time  of  its  coming  too  ! — this  dimly  tinctured  gloom — 
the  streak  of  westering  moon — the  dark  sea  floating  into  the 
distant  silence,  with  our  supreme  conviction  that  the  corpse  of 
the  black  object  we  were  looking  at  lay  with  a  stone  attached 
to  it  fathoms  beneath  the  surface  ! 

He  addressed  us  again  in  the  same  tongue,  in  the  thick, 
throaty  guttural  of  the  African,  this  time  delivering  a  pretty 
long  sentence,  whilst  he  stood  before  us  with  his  arms  hanging 
up  and  down,  and  a  supplicatory  inclination  of  the  head 
towards  us,  and  an  occasional  totter  of  his  black  shanks. 

'  What  does  he  say  ? '  I  cried. 


A  STARTLING  APPARITION  275 

'It  is  hard  to  catch  his  meaning,'  she  said  ;  'he  speaks  a  very 
strange  kind  of  Spanish.  I  think  what  he  wants  to  say  is,  that 
he  is  alone  and  ill,  and  asks  us  not  to  hurt  him.' 

It  was  about  time  now  that  I  should  see  something  miracu- 
lous had  happened  in  the  shape  of  the  preservation  of  this 
negro's  life.  I  was  still  prodigiously  amazed  and  confounded, 
astonished  almost  to  the  height  of  imagining  that  my  mind  was 
all  abroad,  and  out  and  away  more  scared  than  a  natural 
danger  could  have  rendered  me.  But  common  sense  was  begin- 
ning to  break  through,  and  after  a  little  I  had  sufficiently 
mastered  myself  to  think  intelligently. 

'  This  is  no  ghost,  Miss  Grant,'  said  I ;  '  the  poor  devil  has  in 
some  astonishing  fashion  come  off  with  his  life,  and  we  must 
learn  how.  There's  a  sup  of  spirits  below ;  a  dram  along  with 
something  to  eat  will  help  his  tongue.' 

I  stepped  up  to  him,  Miss  Grant  meanwhile  keeping  a  tight 
hold  of  my  arm,  and  with  a  motion  of  my  hand  invited  him  to 
accompany  us.  He  at  once  complied,  and  the  three  of  us 
walked  to  our  underground  chambers.  We  had  made  a  very 
thrifty  use  of  our  candles,  and  had  still  a  few  wax  ends  left. 
I  asked  Miss  Grant  to  request  him  to  remain  outside  till  I 
called  him.  She  did  sex,  and  then  said,  '  Do  you  mean  to  ask 
him  to  come  down  here  * ' 

'  He  won't  hurt  us,'  said  I ;'  he  is  no  ghost.  Kindness  will 
make  him  gratef  uL' 

4 But  suppose  he  believes  you  meant  to  drown  him?'  she 
exclaimed. 

'  Oh,  we'll  clear  his  mind  of  that  notion,'  said  I,  for  I  was  now 
rallying  fast,  with  a  hope  rising  in  me  that  something  helpful 
to  ourselves  might  come  out  of  this  business,  and  consumedly 
curious  besides,  as  you  may  suppose,  to  learn  how  the  fellow 
had  come  to  life  again. 

'  I  will  go  first,'  exclaimed  Miss  Grant. 

Indeed  the  negro  was  still  little  more  than  a  ghost  to  her 
mind,  and  if  she  led  the  way,  then  of  course  I  was  between  her 
and  him.  It  was  pitch  dark,  but  we  were  most  sorrowfully 
well  acquainted  with  the  road  by  this  time,  and  easily  making 
our  way  to  the  kitchen,  struck  a  light,  and  then  called  to  the 
black  man  to  come  down.  He  arrived,  staring  about  him  with 
an  air  of  stupid  bewilderment,  apparently  thunderstruck  at 
the  sight  of  our  hidden  lodging.  I  lighted  a  couple  of  wax 
ends  to  have  a  good  view  of  him,  and  found  him  sure  enough 
the  same  Ouashee  whom  I  had  supposed  dead,  and  whom  I  had 
buried,  and  whose  very  existence,  I  may  say,  so  full  of  business 
had  the  hours  been  between,  I  had  almost  forgotten.  His 
soldier's  coat  sat  dry  upon  his  shoulders,  his  loin-cloth  was  also 
perfectly  dry ;  so  it  was  clear  his  resurrection  had  not  been 
recent.  His  grotesque  garb  and  ebony  figure  formed  a  detail 
to  fit  this  subterranean  place  to  perfection.  Indeed,  somehow 
it  was  impossible  to  glance  at  him  and  around  the  chamber 

T  ? 


276  MAROONED 

without  finding  a  new  kind  of  significance  in  everything  the 
eye  rested  upon  stealing  into  it  out  of  his  presence  ;  the 
muskets  and  cutlasses  looked  as  grim  again,  the  walls  and 
ceilings  more  wildly  and  piratically  rugged  than  ever  they  had 
shown,  to  the  turning  of  the  black,  wondering  face  upon  them, 
as  the  fellow  stared  here  and  there.  We  had  still  a  drop  of  the 
ship's  rum  left ;  I  mixed  a  dram  for  him  in  a  soup  and  boulli 
tin,  noticing  that  he  threw  the  remains  of  a  plantain  which  he 
haa  been  eating  into  the  furnace,  to  receive  the  draught.  In- 
deed, as  he  afterwards  told  us,  he  had  found  a  tolerable  meal 
amongst  the  fruit  past  the  forest,  and  he  was  eating  plantains 
when  ne  first  hove  in  sight,  as  I  had  gathered  from  the  motion 
of  his  arm.  However,  he  could  find  a  corner  for  a  large  piece 
of  turtle  which  I  handed  to  him,  devouring  it  with  great  relish 
and  avidity. 

Miss  Grant  posted  herself  the  other  side  of  the  table,  away 
from  him.  She  stared  incessantly,  as  if  she  could  not  realize  his 
existence,  and  indeed,  though  one  saw  him  eating  and  drinking, 
sitting  solid  and  substantial,  with  the  whites  of  his  eyes  rolling 
most  realistically  over  the  room,  whilst  he  chewed  upon  the 
turtle  with  the  true  negro  smacking  of  the  lips  over  every  bite, 
yet  when  I  reflected  how  stone  dead  he  had  been,  ana  how 
completely  I  had  buried  him,  I  would  start  to  the  fancy  that  if 
it  were  not  all  some  odd  and  ugly  dream,  why  then  the  black 
creature  might  be  a  spectre  after  all,  a  solemn  intimation  to  my 
incredulous  mind  that  such  things  were.  But  I  must  say  that 
these  notions  grew  feebler  with  their  recurrence. 

'  Let  us  get  nis  story,  Miss  Grant,'  said  L 

She  addressed  him  nervously ;  he  stood  up  on  being  spoken 
to,  but  sat  asrain  on  my  motioning  to  him  to  resume  his  chair. 
I  shall  not  in  this  Hie  forget  the  peculiar  magic  that  Miss 
Grant's  beauty  took  on  this  silent  night  in  our  underground 
haunt,  from  the  emotions  which  were  in  her ;  the  struggling  of 
her  brave  spirit  with  the  superstitious  fears  excited  by  the 
negro,  and  his  black  face  at  hand  to  contrast  her  whiteness  with. 
She  sat  beside  but  behind  me,  having  regard  to  the  black  man's 
position ;  and  full  as  my  mind  was  of  the  fellow's  startling 
apparition  and  miraculous  recovery — if  recovery  it  were,  and 
not  some  baleful  bit  of  fetish  necromancy — I'd  find  my  thoughts 
scattering  away  with  confusion  when  I  d  look  from  the  bland 
ebony  countenance  on  my  left,  with  the  whites  of  the  eyes 
glowing  out  into  orange  to  the  candle-light,  to  the  loveliness  of 
the  face  on  my  right,  charged  with  the  revelation  of  new  beauty 
to  every  glance  I  gave  it.  I  had  never  heard  her  speak  Spanish 
before.  Nervous  and  agitated  as  she  was,  the  rich  syllables  of 
the  noble  tongue  rolled  in  honey  from  her  lips,  and  as  was  her 
face  by  the  negro's,  so  was  the  melody  of  her  Castilian  utterance 
inexpressibly  sweetened  and  heightened  by  the  hoarse,  thick 
speech  of  the  red-coated  fiend.  It  was  like  the  warbling  of  4 
Jj  ute  alternating  with  the  gong-like  roll  of  a  tom-tom. 


A  STARTLING  APPARITION  277 

'What  does  he  say?'  said  I,  after  he  had  been  spinning  a 
twister  lasting  over  five  minutes. 

'Why,'  she  answered,  'that  he  -woke  as  if  from  a  long  sleep 
this  evening,  some  time  after  sundown,  and  found  himself  lying 
on  the  beach  on  his  back,  on  the  west  side  of  the  island,  as  I 
suppose,  from  his  speaking  of  the  situation  of  the  hummock. 
He  does  not  know  how  he  came  there.  He  recollects  arriving 
here  this  morning  in  a  boat,  and  fainting  away  after  drinking 
the  water  you  gave  him.  He  says,  after  lying  a  little  he  rose 
and  walked  towards  some  trees,  where  he  presently  heard  a 
sound  of  running  waters.  It  was  the  brook  that  he  means. 
He  drank,  and  then  sought  for  fruit,  but  appears  to  have  lost 
"himself  in  the  forest ;  though  a  little  before  he  made  his 
appearance  he  came  across  the  plantains.  That  is  his  story.' 

Then,'  said  I,  looking  at  him,  '  it  is  no  great  mystery  after 
all,  though  a  mighty  wonder  all  the  same.  He  was  not  dead,  of 
course,  when  he  dropped  after  the  drink.  Well  now,  the  big 
stone  that  I  jammed  into  his  waist-cloth  must  have  rolled  out 
of  it  when  I  hove  him  over  the  side.  It  was  a  sickening  busi- 
ness, and  the  instant  I  had  cleared  the  boat  I  sculled  up  the 
creek  without  looking  astern.  Then  what  could  have  followed  ? 
The  poor  fellow  floated  up  on  to  his  back,  for  he  must  have 
drowned  with  his  face  down,  and  was  cart-ied  away  by  the  tide 
to  that  part  of  the  island  where  he  stranded.  Had  we  looked 
we  might  have  seen  him  floating,  but  we  were  too  busy  with 
the  boat ;  and  when  he  had  weathered  the  spit  of  sand  he 
would  be  out  of  sight  to  us  at  the  head  of  the  creek.  Ask  him 
if  he  knows  what  this  island  is  1 ' 

She  addressed  him  again,  speaking  now  with  growing  confid- 
ence, though  her  first  superstitious  fear  hun^  a  little  lightly  upon 
her.  He  snook  his  head  whilst  lie  answered.  She  spoke  to  him 
afresh,  and  then  told  me  that  he  was  not  only  ignorant  of  the 
name  of  this  island,  but  had  not  the  least  idea  of  the  situation  of 
others  in  these  seas ;  so  there  was  an  end  of  my  expectations  of 
him  as  a  pilot.  She  questioned  him  further,  and  his  story  was 
to  this  effect : — First  of  all,  he  and  his  companion  had  been  run- 
away slaves.  They  stole  a  boat,  and  blew  out  to  sea  from 
somewhere  near  Point  Maysi,  thinking  to  land  at  Tortuga,  but 
were  sighted  and  picked  up  by  an  English  craft,  and  were 
entered  as  seamen  aboard  her  ;  but  the  usage  they  met  with  was 
so  barbarous,  mainly  owing  to  their  inability  to  understand  the 
orders  addressed  to  them,  that  they  resolved  to  run  from  the 
ship  at  the  first  opportunity  that  offered.  A  chance  was  pro- 
vided by  the  master  of  the  vessel  bringing  up  under  the  lee  of 
an  island,  probably  not  very  remote  from  our  own,  to  seek 
shelter,  as  was  to  be  supposed,  from  the  storm  that  had  swept 
these  waters  the  other  night.  There  was  a  boat  riding  astern 
to  a  long  line,  and  when  the  night  came  down  dark,  and  the 
hands  were  below,  saving  the  anchor  watch  look-out,  the 
blacks  dropped  over  the  side,  their  dusky  skins  making  their 


278  MAROONED 

movements  very  secret  in  the  gloom,  and  swam  stealthily  to  the 
boat.  But  it  was  already  blowing  with  a  bit  of  a  popple  on  in 
the  bay  where  the  ship  rode,  with  the  flight  of  the  wind  scurry- 
ing down  the  mountain  side,  and  they  had  scarce  rolled  in- 
board over  the  gunwale  when  the  line  parted,  and  they  drifted 
out  to  sea.  So  tliis  was  the  fellow's  story,  a  bit  of  which  I  had 
anticipated  hours  before  at  the  sight  of  the  shredded  strands 
of  the  rope.  Trusting  he  might  have  a  few  words  of  English 
sufficient  to  understand  my  questions,  so  as  to  save  Miss  Grant 
the  trouble  of  inquiring  and  then  interpreting,  I  sang  out 
to  him — 

'  You  speakee  English  ?' 

'  No,  no ;  no  speakee,'  he  cried,  shaking  his  head  vehemently. 

'You  no  sabbe  how  to  pilot  boat  ? '  I  roared. 

'No  speakee,  no  speakee,'  he  bawled,  wringing  his  hands; 
and  then  looking  at  Miss  Grant  with  eyes  full  of  piteous 
entreaty,  oddly  accentuated  by  a  broad  supplicatory  grin  that 
bared  his  great  ivory  teeth  to  the  junction  of  his  jaws  almost, 
he  poured  out  a  whole  torrent  or  words  in  Spanish  to  her. 
clasping  his  hands  whilst  he  rattled  on,  and  then  dropped 
plump  on  both  knees  before  us  when  he  had  finished. 

'  What  is  it  all  about  ? '  said  L 

'  He  swears  by  the  Holy  Virgin  and  all  the  saints  that  he 
does  not  speak  English,'  said  Miss  Grant,  '  and  implores  you  to 
believe  him.  The  poor  fellow  has  been  horribly  cowed  by  ill- 
treatment.  He  thinks  because  you  are  English  you  will  punish 
him  for  not  being  able  to  speak  our  language.' 

I  motioned  to  him  to  rise,  and  to  top  the  encouragement  of 
my  face  I  mixed  him  another  dram,  which  he  drank  on  his 
knees?  making  some  mysterious  motion  of  amity,  or  perhaps 
affection,  by  holding  one  arm  stiff  u  plight  after  the  manner  of 
certain  South  African  tribes ;  then  rose  and  seated  himself. 

'  It  is  getting  very  late,'  said  I,  looking  at  my  watch ;  '  there 
will  be  a  long  day  before  us  in  that  open  boat  to-morrow, 
though  pray  Heaven  it  may  not  prove  longer  than  a  day.  I 
would  urge  you  to  take  some  rest.' 

'  I  am  not  at  all  sleepy,'  she  replied.  '  I  am  too  excited  to  lie 
down ;  what  with  this  apparition  and  the  prospect  of  our  sail- 
ing to-morrow,  I  shall  not  be  able  to  sleep  indeed.' 

That  poor  fellow  will  want  to  turn  in,'  said  I.  'Rolled  up 
in  a  rug,  ne'll  lie  snug  enough  near  the  furnace.  You  will  not 
object  to  his  occupying  this  room  ? ' 

She  looked  askant  at  him,  and  said  a  little  doubtfully,  '  No, 
I  should  have  no  fear  of  him  at  all  but  for  the  really  terrifying 
wonder  of  his  restoration  to  life.' 

Here  the  negro  yawned  prodigiously,  uttering  a  bawling  sound 
as  he  gaped. 

'  There  is  indeed  notliing  to  be  afraid  of.'  said  L  '  Harmlessness 
in  natures  nearly  allied  to  the  animal  as  his  is,  is  almost  always 
expressed  in  the  face,  and  I'd  stake  my  right  arm  upon  his  being 


WE  LEAVE  THE  ISLAND  27fl 

honest  to  the  core — abjectly  so  indeed.  For  my  part,  humanity 
aside,  I  consider  it  my  duty  to  cherish  him.  A  hand  to  help  in 
the  boat  will  be  invaluable.  Imagine,  for  instance,  a  dead  calm, 
with  the  gleam  of  a  ship's  canvas  just  visible  on  the  horizon 
from  the  low  level  of  the  gunwale.  Two  of  us  might  manage  to 
row  the  boat  to  her ;  whereas  my  single  pair  of  arms  would 
give  up  exhausted  long  before  I  was  able  to  rise  the  ship's  hull. 
He  is  a  powerful  fellow ;  observe  the  breadth  of  his  chest. 
Besides,  he  is  a  child  of  the  sun,  and  the  fittest  help  in  the  world 
for  such  an  excursion  as  we  are  meditating  under  these  heights, 
as  the  Ancient  Mariner  would  call  them.' 

So  speaking  I  took  a  rug  and  handed  it  to  the  black,  motion- 
'ing  him  to  make  a  bed  of  it  against  the  furnace,  to  which  I 
pointed.  He  understood  me  promptly,  grinned  gratefully,  and 
wrapping  the  rug  around  him  as  he  stood,  with  a  proud  glance 
at  the  embellishment,  he  lay  down  with  the  docility  of  a  trained 
dog,  using  his  arm  for  a  pillow,  and  in  a  couple  of  minutes  was 
snoring  like  thunder,  sound  asleep.  Miss  Grant  withdrew  to 
the  inner  room,  whilst  I  stole  up  the  steps  to  take  a  peep  at  the 
boat  and  see  that  all  was  right  with  her.  Her  outline  showed 
black  against  the  sand.  The  ebb  of  the  water  had  almost  left 
her  dry,  and  I  had  no  fear  for  her.  'Twas  a  breathless  night, 
with  its  odd  accompaniment  of  whistling  lizards,  snoring  toads, 
and  chirruping  crickets.  It  wanted  but  three  hours  to  dawn, 
and  at  the  first  peep  of  the  sun  it  was  my  intention  to  be  up 
and  away.  The  slip  of  moon  glowed  rustily  over  the  western 
rim  of  the  forest,  where  the  heads  of  the  trees  spread  like  funeral 
plumes  motionless  against  the  sky.  I  lingered  a  little,  earnestly 
contemplating  the  heavens  in  search  of  any  hints  of  weather, 
then  went  back  to  the  kitchen  and  lay  down,  but  not  to  sleep. 
Indeed  if  the  agitation  of  my  spirits  at  the  prospect  of  getting 
away  had  not  kept  me  restless,  I  must  have  been  held  so  by  the 
negro's  snoring.  He  now  lay  flat  upon  his  back  with  his  mouth 
wide  open,  and  I  can  only  compare  the  sounds  he  produced  to 
the  noise  made  by  the  keel  of  a  boat  dragged  over  shingle. 

Presently  Miss  Grant  called  softly  to  know  if  I  was  awake. 

*  Very  much  awake  indeed,'  said  I. 

*All  is  well  whilst  he  snores  like  that,'  she  exclaimed. 

'Yes,'  I  answered.  'But  it  is  happy  for  us  that  he  should  be 
our  guest  for  one  night  only.  Imagine  three  weeks  of  this  I ' 


CHAPTER  XXX 

WE  LEAVE  THE  ISLAND 

I  HAVE  heard  sweeter  music  in  my  time  than  that  negro's 
snore ;  but  though  it  might  have  disturbed  the  repose  of  the 
dead,  nothing  was  ever  more  comforting  and  soothing  to  me,  as 
you  will  believe,  When  I  say  that  I  could  not  listen  to  the  poor 


280  MAROONED 

felloVs  gasps  without  reflecting  how  very  near  indeed  I  had 
come  to  murdering  him.  My  restlessness  was  a  sort  of  fever, 
and  six  or  eight  times  before  the  daylight  came,  I  crept  softly 
up  into  the  open  to  take  a  peep  at  the  boat,  and  make  sure  that 
she  lay  safe.  Indeed,  we  had  met  with  so  many  surprises  on 
this  island,  that  I  was  in  a  manner  prepared  for  the  strangest 
thing  that  could  happen ;  and  I  believe  had  I  looked  forth  out 
of  the  hatch  and  found  the  boat  gone,  whatever  might  be  the 
emotions  which  would  have  helped  to  the  madness  such  a  loss 
must  have  raised  in  me,  wonder  would  not  have  been  of  them. 

I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  steer  west,  knowing  that  the 
American  seaboard  lay  that  way,  to  say  no  more :  but  it  was 
very  vexing  that  the  negro  should  be  ignorant  of  the  situation 
of  tnis  island,  and  unable  to  pilot  me  to  the  nearest  inhabited 
land.  The  joy  caused  by  possession  of  the  boat  had  overwhelmed 
all  other  considerations  ;  but  now  that  I  lay  sleepless  upon  my 
bed  of  grass  and  rug,  waiting  for  the  skylight  to  glimmer  out  to 
the  dawn,  I  found  myself  a  bit  disheartened  by  the  prospect  of 
the  new  voyage.  That  there  was  land  down  in  the  west  within 
view  from  the  ship's  masthead,  I  did  not  doubt ;  but  then  it 
might  prove  such  another  little  spot  as  this,  verdant  and  unin- 
habited ;  in  which  case  we  should  have  to  push  on ;  and  how 
far  off  might  the  nearest  land  to  it  be  1  It  was  a  great  ocean, 
as  Miss  Grant  had  said,  for  so  little  a  boat.  Strange,  too,  that 
one  of  my  minor  seafaring  nightmares  should  be  fulfilled  long 
after  I  had  abandoned  the  profession,  for  I  recollect  that  when 
I  was  at  sea  I  would  think  with  horror  of  exposure  in  an  open 
boat,  which  to  my  young  imagination  threatened  an  experience 
scarce  less  fearful  than  the  raft.  Indeed,  of  the  two,  perhaps, 
the  raft  was  the  less  horrible,  for  a  man  was  not  likely  to  linger 
long  on  such  a  contrivance,  whereas  in  an  open  boat  he  might 
go  on  languishing  for  days  until  he  died,  and  then  be  found  a 
skeleton  in  the  bottom  of  her,  with  the  little  craft  afloat  and 
buoyant  after  months  of  different  kinds  of  weather.  Nay,  had 
not  that  morning  indeed  illustrated  the  significance  of  the  open 
boat  at  sea  ;  the  dead  man  in  her,  that  creature  yonder  pointing 
with  ebony  forefinger  to  his  mouth  filled  with  froth,  the  empty 
locker,  the  thirsty,  oily  smell  of  the  paint,  inside  and  out, 
exhaling  to  the  roasting  glare  of  the  sun  !  Well,  well,  thought 
L  the  sort  of  spirit  I  require  is  not  to  be  got  out  of  thoughts  of 
this  kind  ;  and  my  eye  then  catching  the  dim,  greenish  lustre 
of  the  dawn,  lying  like  waning  moonshine  upon  the  skylight,  I 
started  up,  thanking  God  for  daylight,  and  feeling  that,  let  the 
future  hold  what  it  might,  the  bars  of  our  prison  here  were 
broken,  and  we  could  now  free  ourselves  from  an  unendurable 
confinement,  which  but  yesterday  morning  was  as  hopeless  to 
the  heart  as  the  bald  sweep  of  the  sea  was  to  the  eye. 

'Is  that  you  moving,  Mr.  Musgravet'  exclaimed  Miss  Grant, 
from  behind  her  curtain. 

*  Yes/ sa;d  I  j '  the  dawn  has  broken.  You  have  not  slept,  I  fear  I  * 


WE  LEAVE  THE  ISLAND  281 

'No,'  she  answered,  'I  have  not  closed  my  eyes.' 

*Pray  endeavour  to  get  a  little  sleep,'  I  exclaimed.  'Mumbo- 
Jumbo  here  can  help  me  in  the  few  preparations  that  remain, 
and  I  don't  doubt  of  making  myself  understood.  Even  an  hour's 
sleep  will  be  helpf  uL  Don  t  doubt  that  I  shall  call  you  when, 
we  are  ready  to  get  under  way,'  I  added,  laughing. 

She  answered  me  by  whipping  back  the  shawl  along  the  rod, 
and  stepping  forth.  '  How  can  you  talk  of  sleeping  now  ? '  she 
exclaimed ;  'the  instant  you  are  ready,  Mr.  Musgrave,  let  us  start.' 

I  was  glad  to  hear  her  say  this.  There  was  no  fear  of  her 
hesitating  to  sail  in  the  little  boat  into  the  vast  sea  that 
stretched  around :  but  I  had  suspected  she  would  express  in 
her  manner  that  her  mind  hung  in  the  wind  a  trifle,  and  that 
she  would  show  herself  a  little  scared  by  a  prospect  that  was 
far  more  formidable  than  it  appeared,  as  she  would  know,  as 
well  as  L 

The  negro  was  snoring  as  briskly  as  ever.  Heaven  knows, 
this  miserable  old  kitchen  was  only  too  familiar  to  us  ;  yet  it 
seemed  to  be  made  fresh,  as  though  in  faith  we  had  stumbled 
upon  another  underground  room,  by  the  novelty  to  our  eyes  of 
that  black  man,  resembling  some  immense  performing  monkey 
in  his  red  coat,  lying  flat  on  his  back,  his  mouth  wide  open,  his 
arms  extended,  and  the  palms  of  his  hands  showing  like  dirty 
yellow  paper  inlaid  in  his  skin  to  the  jetty  points  of  his  thumbs 
and  fingers.  I  stirred  him  with  my  foot,  but  I  probed  him  in 
this  way  for  some  time  before  he  opened  his  eyes.  He  then 
sat  up  with  a  glare  of  astonishment,  whilst  he  grasped  his  wooL 
and  whipped  out  in  a  thick,  half-awake  voice  with  a  string  01 
Spanish,  sounding  like  the  gurgling  of  water  in  a  sucked  hubble- 
bubble.  However,  he  speedily  grew  conscious  enough  to  under- 
stand Miss  Grant  when  she  informed  him  that  it  was  time  to 
get  up,  and  that  we  wanted  him  to  help  us  complete  our 
arrangements  for  promptly  leaving  the  island.  He  rose  slowly 
on  to  his  cucumber  shanks,  scratching  his  head  with  a  dull 
stare  of  mystification,  as  I  thought,  in  his  dusky  eyes  as  he  rolled 
them  from  me  to  my  companion,  and  then  addressed  her.  She 
answered ;  he  spoke  again  with  growing  energy ;  she  nodded, 
on  which,  to  my  astonishment,  he  clasped  his  hands  and  dropped 
upon  his  knees,  and  fell  to  pouring  out  a  whole  iumbleof  words, 
the  imploring  character  of  which  was  gatherable  from  the  tone 
of  his  voice. 

'WhVj  what  is  the  matter  with  the  poor  wretch f  said  I; 
*have  his  wits  left  him  during  the  night  r 

'He  is  entreating  me  to  beg  you  not  to  take  him  away 
from  the  island,'  said  Miss  Grant,  viewing  him  with  surprise 
and  pity. 

'But  does  he  know,'  I  cried,  *that  if  we  leave  him  here  he 
will  be  all  alone ;  not  another  black  even  to  keep  him  company  ? ' 

She  spoke  to  him  again,  motioning  to  him  at  the  same  time  to 
rise  from  his  knees.  Her  question  produced  a  very  long  answer. 


2S2  MAHOOXED 

His  looks  and  inflections  of  speech  pronounced  him  desperately 
in  earnest.  I  could  not  follow  a  syllable ;  time  was  pressing, 
moreover,  for  I  desired,  when  afloat,  all  the  daylight  I  could  get, 
and  I  was  growing  a  little  impatient,  when  Miss  Grant  turn- 
ing to  me  said,  '  He  desires  to  stop  here.  Indeed,  I  believe, 
could  you  even  carry  him  to  the  boat  by  main  force,  he  would 
jump  overboard  and  swim  back  to  the  island  on  your  letting 
go  of  him.  He  says  it  would  be  like  being  a  king  in  his  own 
country  to  live  in  these  fine  rooms,  and  have  the  island  all  to 
himself.' 

'  Humanity  forbids  it/  said  I,  amazed. 

'But  what  is  to  be  done?'  she  exclaimed;  and  I  instantly 
echoed  the  question  mentally,  when  I  glanced  at  his  robust 
figure,  with  some  stupid  thought  of  compulsion  in  my  mind, 
and  then  reflected  that  he  might  detain  us  here  for  hours 
whilst  we  endeavoured  to  persuade  him,  without  perhaps  alter- 
ing his  resolution,  after  a  most  wearisome  course  of  exhortations 
and  representations,  all  of  which  would  have  to  be  translated 
if  he  was  to  understand  them.  I  noticed  him  ogling  the  old 
muskets  and  cutlasses  upon  the  wall,  with  a  negro's  affection 
for  such  toys  kindling  in  his  eye.  No  good  could  come  of 
bothering  ourselves  over  the  matter,  so  I  formed  my  resolution. 

'  If  he  won't  come,  why  then  of  course  he  must  stop.' 

'  He  will  not  come,'  she  exclaimed ;  '  he  is  a  runaway  slave, 
remember,  fresh  too  from  being  cruelly  treated  even  when 
dealt  with  as  a  freeman.  He  means  to  stop  here,  indeed.' 

'Then  please  tell  him,  Miss  Grant,  he  may  do  as  he 
pleases ;  but  I  should  have  been  glad^  to  have  the  use  of  those 
brawny  arms.  He  can't  starve,  I  believe,  and  maybe  when  he 
wishes  to  leave  he'll  know  how  to  go  to  work.  We  have  no 
powder,  but  he  is  welcome  to  those  muskets  yonder,'  nodding 
towards  them, — I  caught  him  watching  me  eagerly  as  I  did  so, 
— '  and  he  may  as  well  take  possession  of  all  the  traps  we  must 
leave  behind ;  so  there  '11  be  clothes  enough  for  him,'  said  I,  with 
a  look  at  his  shanks, '  not  to  mention  some  pretty  dresses  when 
he  has  worn  my  coats  out.' 

On  this  being  interpreted  to  the  poor  fellow,  he  burst  into  a 
hundred  passionate  exclamations  of  joy,  was  so  convulsed  with 
delight,  indeed,  that  I  expected  to  see  him  plump  down  upon 
his  nose  and  roll  upon  the  floor  in  his  ecstasy.  He  clapped  his 
hands,  made  as  if  to  embrace  me,  recoiled  a  step  with  a  frantic 
skip,  leapt  with  such  agility  that  he  struck  his  head  against  the 
ceiling  with  force  enough  to  have  stretched  him  motionless  had 
his  cranium  been  a  white  man's. 

'  Pretty  good  all  this,'  I  exclaimed,  laughing  in  spite  of  my- 
self, 'for  a  man  who  was  last  night  a  ghost,  ana  yesterday 
morning  a  corpse.' 

I  had  nearlycompleted  all  necessary  preparations  on  the  pre- 
ceding day.  The  halliards,  formed  of  a  length  of  coir  rope,  the 
strands  uuLdd,  halved,  and  laid  up  again  into  a  smaller  lino, 


WE  LEAVE  THE  ISLAND  283 

were  rove;  the  sail  of  coloured  shawls  was  bent  to  the  yard. 
There  remained  but  little  more  to  do  than  fill  a  few  outstanding 
bottles  with  water,  stow  away  the  craw -fish,  and  the  like.  The 
boat  was  a  roomy  little  craft ;  yet  though  there  were  but  two  of 
us,  we  found  there  would  be  space  for  no  more  than  a  small  bundle 
of  necessary  articles  chosen  from  the  luggage  we  must  perforce 
leave  behind  us.  I  asked  Miss  Grant  to  make  a  collection  of 
such  things  as  she  might  deem  needful,  taking  care  that  at  the 
utmost  the  parcel  should  be  but  a  small  one  ;  and  then  putting 
the  negro  to  the  job  of  filling  the  remaining  bottles  with  water 
from  the  brook,  I  slipped  round  past  the  creek  for  my  morning 
-plunge,  from  which  I  returned  as  much  refreshed  as  though  I 
had  slept  soundly  all  night.  My  next  act  was  to  climb  the 
hummock,  and  take  a  last  view  of  the  sea  from  a  spot  whence 
I  had  surveyed  it  again  and  again,  with  many  contending 
emotions  of  misery,  hope,  and  despair.  There  was  nothing  in 
sight,  a  light  air  was  fanning  out  of  the  north  and  west,  with 
weight  enough  in  it  to  put  a  blinding  twinkling  into  the  water 
where  it  was  sun-touched ;  the  heavens  spread  in  a  soft  light 
blue,  without  the  phantasm  of  a  cloud  anywhere  visible.  Shel- 
tered by  my  wide,  sombrero-like  hat  from  the  bite  of  the  sun 
that,  low  as  he  yet  hung  over  the  sea,  stung  the  naked  flesh 
like  nettles,  I  lingered  a  little,  after  bringing  my  eyes  away 
from  the  silken  brimming  of  the  blue  ocean  to  the  azure 
distance  where  it  blended  with  the  heavens,  to  rest  them  for  a 
few  minutes  upon  the  island. 

The  harsh  squawk  of  the  macaw,  or  some  such  fowl,  came  like 
the  edge  of  a  saw  out  of  the  heavy  greenery  of  the  forest ;  to 
every  pause  in  the  fitful  blowing  of  the  morning  breeze  a 
hundred  sounds  of  bird  and  reptile  life  on  the  island — whist- 
lings, croakings,  rook-like  cawings,  the  jabber  of  green  and 
golden  shapes,  with  short  notes  as  of  _  bells  accompanying, 
chimes-fashion,  the  clear,  melodious  pipings  of  the  very  few 
birds  who  really  could  sing  on  that  island — came  stealing  in  a 
growing  volume  upon  the  ear,  then  softening  again  to  some 
not,  soft  gush  of  the  wind  that  floated  the  strains  of  the  concert 
backwards  to  the  trees.  The  tall  guinea-grass  stirred  to  the 
creeping  of  invisible  things  ;  the  draught  of  air  breezing  upon 
the  weather-side  of  the  forest  set  the  branches  dancing,  and 
the  verdure  seemed  to  flash  again  to  the  lift  of  the  foliage,  as 
the  silver  under-lining  of  innumerable  leaves  shone  out  with 
this  stirring  of  the  air.  Maybe  I  did  not  loiter  above  a  couple 
of  minutes,  but  thought  has  lightning  rapidity,  and  I  lived 
again  throughout  the  three  weeks  we  had  spent  on  this  beauti- 
ful island  in  the  few  seconds  during  which  I  stood  contem- 
plating the  sunny  scene.  The  setting  of  us  ashore  by  the 
cold-blooded  rascals  of  the  Iron  Crown,  the  crushing  weight  of 
hopelessness  upon  us  as  we  sat  together  yonder,  where  the 
white  sand  wound  in  ivory  to  the  creek,  with  our  luggage  heaped 
about  us,  no  shelter  for  our  heads,  no  prospect  of  deliverance ; 


284  MAROONED 

then  the  hollow  and  startling  notes  of  the  midnight  belL  my 
strange  discovery  of  the  sand-covered  hatch,  our  life  in  the  dark- 
some chambers  underground  there,  the  fright  occasioned  by  the 
monkey,  and  now  that  boat  snug  in  the  creek  yonder  ! — memory 
affectea  me  like  a  succession  of  wild  dreams.  The  mighty 
surface  of  the  sea  stared  blindly  at  the  sky,  and  for  the  life  of 
me  I  could  not  repress  a  shudder  as  I  glanced  at  the  boat,  and 
thought  of  the  tiny  speck  it  would  presently  be  making  upon 
that  huge,  broiling,  merciless  expanse. 

I  broke  from  my  thoughts,  and  quitted  the  hummock  with  an 
odd  and  most  bothersome  fancy  in  me — so  perversely  does  the 
imagination  steer  the  mind — of  what  my  cousin  Alexander  would 
say  and  think,  supposing  we  should  live  to  tell  him  the  story, 
of  the  intimate  association  forced  upon  Miss  Grant  and  myselr 
by  the  perils  of  the  ocean,  of  our  living  as  though  we  were  a 
couple  of  Indians  underground,  of  our  being  thrown  together 
for  another  spell  of  yet  deeper  intimacy  in  an  open  boat, — 
pshaw  I  thought  I,  'tis  high  time  we  got  away. 

But  first  it  was  our  business  to  make  as  good  a  meal  as  we 
had  appetite  for.  The  negro  ate  like  a  cormorant,  and  since 
his  resolution  was  formed,  I  hoped  for  his  sake  that  there  would 
happen  no  dearth  of  turtle  whilst  he  chose  to  remain  all  alone 
by  himself  here.  It  made  one  think  of  Juan  Fernandez  and 
the  solitary  Mosquito  Indian,  to  look  at  him.  I  asked  Miss 
Grant  to  again  endeavour  to  persuade  him  to  accompany  us, 
thinking  that  the  fellow  might  now  have  changed  his  mind. 
But  the  moment  he  gathered  her  meaning  his  face  filled  with 
alarm  ;  he  stared  at  me  so  appealingly  that  it  was  impossible  to 
watch  him  unmoved,  and  I  think  he  would  have  gone  down  on 
his  knees  again  but  for  something  which  Miss  Grant  said  that 
reassured  him. 

'  It  cannot  be  helped,'  said  I ;  '  he  is  not  a  little  boy ;  I  cannot 
carry  him  to  the  boat.  He  may  be  even  more  lucky  than  we 
— I  mean  that  a  vessel  may  heave-to  off  here  even  before  he  is 
tired  of  the  place.  Have  you  collected  what  you  want,  Miss 
Grant?' 

'  Yes,'  she  exclaimed,  rising,  and  going  to  the  inner  room  she 
brought  out  a  little  bundle.  '  I  have  shown  great  self-denial, 
don't  you  think  ? '  she  exclaimed,  laughing,  as  she  held  it  up. 

I  did  not  ask  what  it  contained,  though  I  afterwards  came 
to  learn  that  it  consisted  mainly  of  a  few  parcels  of  letters 
and  bits  of  jewellery,  and  the  like,  prized  entirely  for  the  givers' 
sake.  'It  seems  hard,'  she  added,  with  a  wistful  look  at  her 
trunks  that  showed  through  the  opening, '  to  leave  all  my  pretty 
purchases  behind.  How  patient  you  were,  Mr.  Musgrave,  when 
you  accompanied  me  on  my  shopping  trips  !  What  a  number 
of  things  I  could  have  done  without,  if  this  experience  had 
been  foreseen ! ' 

'  Better,'  said  I, '  that  this  honest  negro  should  possess  them 
than  that  they  should  have  foundered  with  the  //w*  Crotm; 


WE  LEAVE  THE  ISLAND  285 

for  the  bottom  of  the  sea  was  bound  to  be  their  destination  had 
they  remained  aboard.  Now,  if  you  take  my  advice,  you  will 
put  on  your  broadest-brimmed  hat,  and  our  stock  of  umbrellas 
must  go  with  us,  lest  a  breeze  of  wind  should  carry  one  or  more 
overboard.' 

I  beckoned  to  the  negro,  and  Miss  Grant  made  him  under- 
stand that  he  was  to  carry  certain  articles  to  the  boat;  and  then 
entering  her  room  I  took  down  her  hammock,  which  was  a 
thing  that  stowed  very  compactly,  and  might  be  of  use  to  her 
•were  we  driven  ashore  upon  such  another  island  as  this.  I  also 
gave  the  negro  a  good  warm  cloak  to  carry,  a  well-lined  gar- 
~ment,  that  would  serve  as  an  excellent  wrap  for  Miss  Grant  at 
night ;  but  though  we  took  these  things,  there  was  little  more 
we  conveyed  to  the  boat — my  monkey  jacket,  I  remember,  her 
and  my  pistols  with  powder  and  ball,  a  few  remaining  bundles 
of  cigars,  all  the  umbrellas  we  possessed,  some  rugs,  and  a  few 
other  items  which  I  need  not  tax  my  memory  to  recalL 

All  being  ready  we  slowly  left  the  underground  rooms  which 
had  sheltered  us  for  three  weeks,  both  of  us  sending  lingering 
glances  around  as  we  quitted  the  dreary,  dream-like  haunt,  and 
accompanied  by  the  negro  walked  to  the  boat. 

She  was  lying,  half  the  length  of  her  dry,  upon  the  sand.  The 
negro  placed  the  parcels  he  carried  in  the  bottom  of  her,  then 
came  to  me,  and  letting  go  the  line  which  held  her,  we  put  our 
shoulders  to  the  bows,  and  drove  the  craft  afloat.  I  jumped 
in  as  she  slided  into  the  brilliantly  clear,  calm  surface,  and 
throwing  one  of  the  paddles  over,  got  her  head  round,  then 
sheered  her  alongside  the  bank  of  the  creek,  extending  my  arm 
to  Miss  Grant,  who  sprang  aboard.  My  next  business  was  to 
coil  the  line  away  in  the  bow,  then  to  thoroughly  overhaul  our 
little  ship  to  see  that  her  freight — more  precious  to  us,  mere 
craw-fish,  turtle,  bottles  of  fresh  water  as  it  was,  than  the 
richest  treasure  that  ever  put  to  sea  in  the  hold  of  a  register 
ship — was  properly  trimmed,  and  that  nothing  the  island  could 
supply  us  with  was  wanting.  Miss  Grant  sat  in  the  stern- 
sheets,  sheltered  by  an  umbrella.  The  radiance  of  the  early 
sunshine  came  streaming  down  from  the  far  eastern  sea-line 
hot  as  molten  silver  into  the  creek,  and  the  glare  of  it,  rising  ofT 
the  surface  to  the  face,  which  it  stung  as  though  the  lustre  was 
formed  of  flaming  needles,  furnished  a  mighty  uncomfortable 
hint  of  the  sort  of  roasting  that  awaited  us  outside,  when  the 
luminary  should  rise  to  the  middle  of  the  sky.  I  threw  the 
paddles  over,  and  rowed  slowly  down  the  creek.  There  was  no 
draught  of  air  to  be  felt  here,  though  the  water  outside  was 
wrinkling  to  the  fiery  breathing  that  came  softly  out  of  the 
north-west.  The  negro  walked  along  the  bank  to  the  edge  of 
the  sp^it,  where,  drawing  his  figure  erect,  he  held  his  right 
arm  high,  and  so  stood  watching  us  motionless,  like  a  black 
statue  whose  nobly-proportioned  trunk  and  arms  some  fool 
had  smeared  with  red  paint.  I  noticed  my  companion,  gaza 


2S8  MABOONED 

wistfully  landwards  as  we  drew  out.  You  saw  in  the  expression 
of  her  eyes  how  busy  her  memory  was,  with  a  change  in  their 
soft,  brilliant  depths  into  a  look  of  mingled  wonder  and  un- 
certainty rather  than  of  dismay,  as  they  went  seawards  from  tne 
bright  vegetation,  the  arid  hummocks,  and  the  tracks  of  white 
sand,  whitening  out  from  the  dense  undergrowth  to  the  long 
space  of  dazzling  coral  platform  on  which  the  blue  breaker  was 
melting. 

There  was  scarce  an  experience  of  mine  on  yonder  island  that 
did  not  recur  to  me  as  a  passage  in  a  dream  might,  so  vague 
did  the  memory  of  it  offer  to  my  imagination  through  the  sheer 
strangeness  of  the  whole  adventure.  But  nothing  approached 
the  dreaminess  which  the  reality  of  this  our  departure  took. 
It  was  not  only  the  feeling  that  we  were  leaving  the  place  for 
good — a  prison  from  which  we  had  again  and  again  feared  we 
should  never  have  power  to  deliver  ourselves ; — no  !  the  realiz- 
ation of  escape,  when  the  hope  of  escape  has  long  lain  dead,  will 
always  affect  the  mind  at  the  first  start  as  something  visionary, 
something  that  one  durst  not  believe.  But  it  was  not  that  only, 
tt  was  the  manner  also  of  our  going.  It  might  have  seemed  to 
a  strange  eye,  ignorant  of  the  truth,  as  though  this  young  girl 
and  I  were  some  young  bride  and  bridegroom,  with  a  little 
summer  ocean  home  hidden  away  among  the  cool  trees  up  there, 
and  that  we  were  starting  upon  a  pleasure  cruise,  intending 
maybe  a  survey  of  our  tiny  principality,  to  which  we  should  be 
returning  anon.  This  was  my  fancy  as  we  glided  down  the  creek, 
and  it  was  this  that  made  the  thing  as  unreal  as  a  dream  to  me. 
It  was  fitter  for  a  summer  Thames  scene  than  an  illustration  of 
human  distress  at  sea.  Who  would  have  imagined,  watching 
me  in  shirt  and  trousers  and  shoes,  bare-armed,  slowly  plying 
the  flashing  paddles — who  would  have  conceived,  observing  the 
quiet  figure  of  the  girl  seated  aft  draped  in  white,  carefully 
sheltering  her  face,  the  shadow  of  her  wide  hat  enriching  her 
warm  beauty  with  the  softness  of  the  tint  it  made,  though  there 
was  sparkle  enough  in  the  water  alongside  to  touch~her  hair  with 
a  delicate  light  of  gold — that  we  were  quitting  the  island  in  search 
of  succour,  that  we  had  launched  ourselves  on  a  boat  voyago 
which  might  prove  darker  with  peril  to  us  than  the  blackest 
hour  we  had  yet  passed  since  we  boarded  the  Iron  Crown  ia 
the  DownSj  that  instead  of  a  sultry  morning  jaunt  alongshore 
we  were  going  to  lose  ourselves  in  the  heart  of  the  mighty  ocean 
yonder,  with  no  further  hope  in  the  result  than  we  could  get 
from  confidence  in  the  Divine  guidance  1 

Once  clear  of  the  creek  I  hoisted  our  sail  of  shawls,  flattening 
in  the  sheet  and  putting  the  helm  down  to  test  the  little 
craft's  capacity  of  looking  up  to  it.  The  colours  of  the  shawls 
were  red,  white,  and  blue,  and  at  a  distance  the  boat  sliding  out 
of  the  creek  might  have  passed  for  a  huge  aquatic  parrot,  out- 
ward bound  on  some  predatory  excursion.  The  negro,  with  his 
figure  standing  boldly  out  at  the  extremity  of  the  tongue  of 


WE  LEAVE  T1IE  ISLAND  28? 

sand,  now  held  up  both  arms,  slowly  moving  his  hands  at  the 
wrists.  It  looked  as  if  he  was  blessing  us,  but  I  suppose  it  was 
his  country's  way  of  saying  good-bya  ^Miss  Grant  waved  her 
hand  to  him,  and  I  bade  him  farewell  with  a  flourish  of  my  hat, 
whereupon  he  turned  on  a  sudden  and  ran  with  incredible 
swiftness  to  the  underground  rooms,  down  whose  hatchway 
he  shot  with  the  rapidity  of  a  skip-jack  plunging  from  its  leap 
out  of  water,  and  so  vanished. 

'  He  has  gone  to  clothe  himself,'  said  Miss  Grant.- 

'Wonderful  how  he  could^have  held  out  so  long,'  said  I ;  'the 
desire  to  squeeze  himself  into  my  patent  leather  boots  and 
-frock-coat,  not  to  mention  my  green  satin  stock  and  several 
coloured  shirts  which  he  will  come  across,  must  have  risen  into 
madness  whilst  he  stood  holding  up  his  arms.  One  guesses 
that  by  the  rush  he  made  when  nature  gave  in.  And  now,  Miss 
Grant,  how  is  this  little  craft  going  to  serve  us  ? ' 

There  was,  as  I  have  said,  a  draught  of  air  fiery  hot  as  the 
waftings  of  the  atmosphere  of  a  furnace  blowing  out  of  the 
north-west,  with  just  weight  enough  to  keep  the  water  twinkling, 
and  to  thread  it  here  and  there  with  long,  silken,  dark  blue 
shadows  with  the  heavier  scoring  of  its  sparkling  pressure.  I 
hauled  the  sheet  of  the  sail  as  flat  as  it  would  come,  but  could 
not  get  the  boat's  head  round  to  within  six  points  of  this  air ; 
and  even  at  that,  when  she  had  got  way  enough  upon  her  to 
set  the  water  slobbering  and  tinkling  a  bit  along  her  clinker- 
built  sides,  I  noticed  a  leewardly  trend  that  sent  her  fathom  or 
two  of  wake,  oil-smooth  with  a  few  holes  of  eddies  in  it,  veering 
away  upon  the  weather  quarter.  I  had  no  compass,  and  when 
we  lost  sight  of  land  there  would  be  nothing  but  the  sun  or 
stars  to  steer  by ;  meanwhile,  however,  I  made  up  my  mind  to 
head  away  north,  keeping  the  boat  as  close  as  she  would  lie,  and 
then,  supposing  the  breeze  to  hold,  when  we  had  put  the  island 
a  mile  or  two  astern,  to  go  about  on  the  starboard  tack,  and 
blow  away  as  best  we  could,  south  and  west,  partly  with  the 
hope  of  rising  the  land  in  the  west  before  sundown,  and  partly 
witli  the  expectation  of  thrusting  into  the  fairway  south  ;  for  it 
was  nearly  always  in  the  south  quarter  that  the  sails  we  had 
sighted  from  the  hummock  hove  into  view,  with  one  or  two  in 
those  three  weeks  gliding  blue  and  ghostly  in  the  far  east,  but 
none  that  ever  we  saw  north  or  west. 

'Our  sail  should  make  a  brilliant  signal,'  exclaimed  Miss 
Grant,  'if  a  ship  should  come  within  view  of  it.' 

'Yes,'  said  I,  that  was  the  thought  in  me  when  I  hoisted  it. 
Red,  white,  and  blue,  the  proper  sort  of  colour  for  English 
hearts  to  beat  under.  Quashee's  soul  will  have  yearned  for 
them.  The  red  shawl  would  have  made  him  a  fine  turban ; 
indeed  it  would  be  finer  as  a  turban  than  as  a  sail,'  I  added, 
with  a  glance  at  the  yawns  where  the  shawls  had  been  taped 
together.  Yet  the  fabric  was  giving  the  boat  some  sort  of 
way,  and  the  island  was  slowly  dwindling.  It  looked  a  radiant. 


288  MA1100NED 

gem-like  spot  now  upon  the  ocean,  that  brimmed  with  a  line  of 
silver  to  the  white  sand.  I  sat  watching  it,  the  boat  steering 
herself,  for  which  I  was  mightily  thankful,  for  the  little  tiller 
1  had  shipped  grew  into  a  heated  bar  of  iron  to  the  touch,  and 
my  bare  knuckles  felt  as  if  they  were  flayed  after  keeping  my 
hand  spread  to  the  sun  a  few  minutes.  I  could  not  but  hope  that 
I  was  acting  rationally  in  quitting  the  island  in  this  little  boat, 
for  the  solid  land  there  at  least  supplied  a  certainty  of  refuge, 
which  induced  a  wild  emotion  or  misgiving  when  I  glanced 
away  at  the  huge  sea,  and  thought  of  the  gale  that  had  swept 
it  the  other  night.  Yet  we  had  both  of  us  pined  and  prayed 
for  such  an  opportunity  of  escape  as  had  now  come,  and  there 
seemed  something  like  the  profanity  of  ingratitude  in  hesi- 
tation, natural  and  reasonable  as  misgiving  was  at  such  a  time. 

I  was  startled  from  the  reverie  into  which  I  had  plunged  by 
a  sudden  exclamation  from  Miss  Grant,  who  sat  near  me  bend- 
ing over  the  side.  She  pointed  down  into  the  watert  shrinking 
a  little  as  she  did  so,  with  an  expression  of  consternation  glitter- 
ing in  her  glance  and  dilating  her  eyes  as  she  looked  round  at 
me.  I  peered  over  and  saw  immediately  below,  scarce  six  feet 
deep  in  the  clear,  blue,  glass-like  profound,  the  long  dark  form 
of  a  great  shovel-nosed  shark,  with  the  upper  barb  of  its  tail 
rounding  out  like  a  scythe,  the  whole  outline  absolutely  motion- 
less, without  a  tremor  in  its  fins  that  I  could  witness,  though  we 
were  sliding  along  at  some  two  or  three  miles  in  the  hour,  and 
the  thing  held  its  position  as  though  it  were  our  shadow.  For 
the  life  of  me  I  could  not  help  a  sudden  recoil.  It  was  as  big 
and  ugly  a  monster  of  the  kind  as  ever  I  had  seen,  and  by 
simulating,  as  it  were,  the  reflection  of  our  boat,  furnished  an 
appalling  mockery  in  that  way  to  the  imagination — to  mine,  at 
least,  which  instantly  went  to  work  to  construe  the  grim  and 
foul  adumbration  into  a  foreshadowing  of  our  fate. 

But  I  pulled  myself  together  quickly,  and  said,  'One  cannot 
sail  these  waters  without  sights  or  this  kind  happening.  Stop  ! 
he  may  be  routed  out  of  this.' 

I  took  an  oar  and  plunged  it  harpoon-wise  at  the  brute,  and 
struck  him  fair  on  the  back.  Ugh !  the  touch,  the  feel  of  it 
threw  me  into  a  cold  sweat.  It  would  have  been  otherwise 
with  me  had  I  barbed  the  beast,  but  the  soft  slippery  contact 
was  like  the  blow  of  a  baby's  fist  upon  the  snout  of  a  tigress. 
Yet  it  started  the  creature  nevertheless.  With  a  sweep  of  its 
tail  it  drove  ahead,  sending  a  shoal  of  bubbles  to  the  surface, 
with  a  line  of  sparkles  in  the  blue  beneath,  and  when  we  came 
to  look  for  it  again  it  was  not  to  be  seen  on  either  side  the  boat. 
I  met  Miss  Grant's  eye  thoughtfully  fixed  upon  mine.  The 
whole  weight  of  my  responsibility  came  upon  me  then,  some- 
how. I  knew  that  her  trust  was  in  me — that  wherever  I  led 
she  would  follow  in  full  faith  in  my  judgment.  Her  life  had 
grown  so  precious  to  me,  that  the  mere  fancy  of  imperilling  it 
by  any  resolution  I  might  form,  hoping  always  for  the  best, 


WE  LEAVE  THE  ISLAND  28fl 

unendurable.  I  gent  a  glance  into  the  hot  azure  distance, 
then  at,  the  island,  then  met  her  eyes  afresh. 

4  If  you  are  in  the  least  degree  timid — it  is  not  too  late.  We 
c:m  be  ashore  again  in  an  hour,'  I  exclaimed. 

'I  am  not  timid,'  she  replied;  'the  sight  of  that  great  fish 
frightened  me.  Why  should  we  return  f  Here  is  our  chance 
for  escaping  ;  why  should  we  neglect  it  ?' 

'True  ;  but  often  bitter  perils  and  privations  attend  attempts 
of  this  kind,'  I  rejoined.  'Your  life  is  dear  to  me,  Miss  Grant ; ' 
her  lips  stirred,  but  I  did  not  catch  what  she  said.  '  Is  it  right,' 
I  continued,  '  that  I  should  subject  you  to  the  risks  and  exposure 
.  of  such  a  venture  as  this  ?  I  may  have  acted  in  too  great  a 
hurry,  scarcely  shown  prudence  in  my  hot  desire  to  break  from 
that  jail  there.  This  proposal  now  occurs  to  me.  Let  us  return 
to  the  island.  The  negro  will  help  me  in  my  new  plan.  Here 
is  a  boat  in  which  he  or  I  may  every  day  row  or  sail  away  into 
the  southward,  which  is  apparently  the  navigated  tract  of  these 
waters,  and  it  will  be  strange  indeed  if  we  do  not  meet  with 
some  vessel  before  long  to  which  we  can  make  our  condition 
known.' 

'You  would  take  me  with  you  on  such  excursions  ?' 

'No  need.  I  should  leave  you  on  the  island  until  we  could 
obtain  help.' 

She  shook  her  head.  '  No,'  she  exclaimed  slowly,  with  great 
emphasis  ;  and  then  she  added, '  Imagine  the  evening  to  come  on 
one  day,  and  no  sign  of  your  boat.  The  night  passes,  and  next 
day,  and  then  weeks  pass,  and  I  am  still  alone.  On,  Mr.  Musgrave, 
how  can  you  suggest  such  a  thing  ?  When  we  were  set  ashore 
you  said  it  made  you  happy  to  think  that  we  were  together. 
That  was  my  happiness  too,  she  continued,  dropping  her  eyes 
an  instant,  and  then  lifting  them  again  to  mine,  '  and  now  you 
will  risk  a  separation  that — that — •  She  shook  her  head  again 
almost  bitterly,  but  smiled  a  moment  after.  '  Besides,'  she  went 
on,  as  though  she  had  no  patience  to  hear  me,  nor  indeed  meant 
to  give  me  a  chance  to  speak,  '  you  would  not  get  the  negro  to 
accompany  you.  No  threats,  no  entreaties  would  prevail  upon 
him,  I  am  sure.  He  would  dread  to  be  recaptured.  He  has  that 
island  all  to  himself  now,  and  a  hole  to  live  in,  and  is  as  free  as 
a  monkey  in  any  forest  in  Brazil,  and  should  you  attempt  to 
persuade  or  force  him,  what  might  happen  ?  Another  mutiny, 
Mr.  Musgrave,  more  dreadful  than  the  one  on  board  the  Iron 
Croitm,  with  a  chance  of  his  taking  your  life,  and  of  my  being 
left  alone  with  him  ! ' 

'  Be  it  so,'  I  said  ;  '  we  are  together,  and  together  we  will 
remain — at  least  for  the  present/  I  added,  cooling  down  my 
voice  suddenly  to  check  the  gathering  ardency  of  it* 

She  made  no  answer. 


1290  MAROONED 

CHAPTER  XXXI 

A  DAY  OF  PERIL 

BY  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  I  reckoned  the  island  to  be 
about  two  leagues  distant,  scarce  visible,  so  low  it  lay,  save 
•when  the  slide  of  the  boat  to  the  brow  of  the  swell  showed 
it  'dipping/  as  they  say  at  sea — just  a  blot  of  indigo  blue  upon 
the  gleam  running  to  it,  and  against  the  whitish  azure  behind. 
At  about  this  hour  the  small,  scorching  breeze,  that  had  held 
fairly  steady  from  the  north-west  since  the  early  morning,  died 
away  as  though  devoured  out  of  the  atmosphere  by  the  blazing 
eye  overhead,  and  the  deep  turned  into  liquid  glass,  with  the 
heave  of  it  due  east.  It  was  not  an  undulation  to  notice  from  a 
slap's  sidej  or  from  the  low  elevation  of  the  island  ;  but  to  us  in 
that  boat  it  seemed  as  heavy  as  a  strong  sea,  with  the  rise  of  it 
putting  the  horizon  out  of  sight  one  moment,  and  the  next 
making  the  bright  line  look  to  spread  twice  as  far  as  it  went  in 
reality.  One  may  talk  of  getting  a  sense<  of  the  mightiness  of 
the  deep  when  aboard  a  great  ship  that  is  hove  by  the  surge 
with  her  thousand  tons  of  freight,  and  the  massive  fabric  of 
her  spars  and  rigging  roaring  into  the  gloom  of  the  tempest  as 
a  boy  tosses  a  ball ;  but  it  is  surely  in  the  little  open  boat  that 
one  feels  the  power  of  the  giantess  most.  You  lie  close  to  her 
heart,  you  feel  the  beating  of  it,  your  eyes  are  within  arm's- 
length  of  the  mysteries  under  her  shining  breast,  the  spirit 
within  you  takes  measure  of  the  volume  and  altitude  of  her 
respirations,  and  you  are  oppressed  by  an  indeterminable 
emotion  of  awe,  of  a  kind  different  from  any  the  mind  is 
sensible  of  in  viewing  the  sea  from  an  elevation,  whether  it  be 
the  edge  of  a  range  of  coast  or  the  rail  of  a  tall  vessel. 

I  had  put  the  boat's  head  round  for  the  southward  a  little 
time  before  the  stark  calm  fell,  but  without  her  measuring  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  of  water  in  the  time,  I  should  say,  so  faint 
grew  the  breeze  whilst  slowly  slackening  into  breathlessness.  I 
said  to  Miss  Grant  that  I  could  not  imagine  it  hotter  in  the  most 
scorching  circle  of  Dante's  Inferno.  Why,  I  had  but  to  stand  up 
and  let  my  arms  hang  up  and  down,  and  the  sweat  drained  from 
my  fingers'  ends  as  though  I  had  just  been  fished  out  of  the  sea. 
It  was  not  the  blaze  coming  down  that  one  felt  so  much  as  the 
dazzle  that  rose  off  the  edge  of  the  water,  lifting  into  the  face  as 
though  from  polished  copper,  and  making  one  writhe  and  twist 
about  in  search  of  the  shelter  that  neither  umbrella  nor  hat 
could  provide.  At  one  or  thereabouts  we  had  made  a  little 
meal  or  plantains  and  craw-fish,  along  with  a  small  draught  from 
one  of  the  bottles ;  and  then — though  there  -was  wind  enough 
blowing  to  keep  the  feeling  of  fever  out  of  the  blood — even  then 
I  remember  contemplating  our  stock  of  provisions  with  a  melan- 
choly eye  as  I  ruminated  upon  the  perishable  qualities  of  them. 


A  DAY  OF  PERIL  291 

Bat  when  this  *  furious  calm,'  as  the  Spaniards  call  it,  came,  the 
fear  I  had  for  our  food  deepened.  Though  everything  was 
cooked  barring  the  fruit,  it  seemed  cock-sure  to  me  that  our 
miserable  store  of  boiled  turtle  and  the  like  must  putrefy  right 
away  off,  and  leave  us  nothing  but  our  oranges  and  bananas  to 
eat.  We  were  without  bread,  biscuit,  flour.  People  putting 
away  from  a  ship  in  our  condition  will,  for  the  most  part,  unless 
they  are  very  unfortunate  indeed,  carry  with  them  food  that 
defies  climate — meat  in  tins,  bags  of  bread,  with  other  matters 
designed  for  seafaring  use.  But  two-thirds  of  our  stock  might 
not  keep  sweet  through  the  night,  and  the  very  plantains  me- 
thought  must  rot  speedily  to  such  a  blasting  and  withering  eye 
as  the  sun  looked  down  upon  us  with.  But  though  now  and 
again  I  would  send  a  wistful  glance  at  the  blue  smudge  in  the 
distance  whenever  it  showed,  I  said  nothing.  The  die  was  cast, 
we  had  to  abide  by  the  throw.  It  would  have  been  wanton  in 
me  to  suggest  a  return  to  the  island  after  what  Miss  Grant  had 
said;  and  as  to  the  provisions,  I  comforted  myself  with  reflecting 
that  the  cocoa-nuts,  at  all  events,  would  hold  their  virtue,  whilst 
I  also  considered  that  I  had  done  my  best — that  what  the  island 
yielded  we  had  taken — and  that  no  man,  though  he  thought  with 
the  spirit  of  a  prophet  in  him,  could  do  more. 

Miss  Grant  made  no  complaint.  It  was  seldom  that  I  met 
her  eye  but  that  she  had  a  smile.  It  seemed  to  me  that,  now 
she  was  confronted  with  something  tangible,  a  condition  she 
could  realize,  a  situation  of  which  the  issue,  whether  life  or 
death,  was  within  the  grasp  of  her  mind,  her  spirit  rose  to  it. 
It  would  make  me  shrink  at  times  to  cast  a  look  around  the 
sea,  for  when  the  island  disappeared  the  vast  solitude  in  which 
we  floated  became  sheer  ocean  to  every  sense,  full  of  the  deso- 
lation which  the  distressed  heart  would  give  to  it,  and  which 
there  was  nothing  in  the  glory  of  the  day  to  mitigate.  But  her 
eyes  sought  the  distance  fearlessly  ;  twenty  moods  alternated  in 
her,  as  I  saw  in  her  varying  expression  ;  but  no  hint  of  timidity 
was  ever  visible  in  one  of  them.  Indeed  it  was  the  heroic 
tranquillity  of  her  look  that  kept  me  still.  The  heat  tried  me 
fearfully  ;  the  dead  calm  was  like  a  sensible  weight  upon  my 
spirits ;  I  had  worked  hard  on  the  previous  day,  and  had  not 
closed  my  eyes  for  twenty-four  hours ;  and  such  was  my 
temper,  as  I  sat  in  that  small  scorched  boat  dodging  the  swing 
of  our  preposterous  sail  for  the  idle  comfort  of  the  shadow  of 
it,  that  I  needed  but  a  face  opposite  me  to  reflect  mine  to  have 
exhausted  myself  with  grumblings  and  lamentations,  and  may- 
be to  have  resolved,  the  instant  the  cool  of  the  evening  came, 
to  hark  back  again  for  the  island  as  nimbly  as  our  paddles 
would  sweep  us  there. 

However,  I  got  the  better  of  all  this  unmanly  weakness  after 
the  sun  went  down  ;  though  whilst  he  was  going  I  could  have 
stood  up  and  shaken  my  fist,  as  Tom  Cringle  did,  at  the  vast 
red,  rayless  body  that  looked,  as  his  lower  limb  hovered  a 

u  2 


292  MAROONED 

,  moment  or  two  on  the  sea-line,  to  be  sipping  the  blood  stream- 
[  ing  from  his  own  fiery  substance  into  the  water  beneath  him, 
|  There  was  no  air,  not  the  fluttering  of  a  breath  to  touch  with 

!the  shadowing  of  a  feather  the  immeasurable  liquid  surface 
breathing  in  oil  with  the  sluggish  panting  of  some  sentient 
f  tiling  half  dead  with  the  day-long  pouring  of  the  luminary 
i  upon  it.    Whilst  the  last  beam  of  daylight  sent  its  red  flash 
r  across  the  sea,  with  a  running  of  the  crimson  stream  of  wake  to 
the  orb  as  though  'twere  a  length  of  cloth  of  purple  gold  that 
he  dragged  off  the  sea  with  him  as  he  slipped  down  the  side, 
I  stood  up  on  the  thwart,  with  my  arm  around  the  mast,  and 
carefully  scrutinized  the  horizon.    There  was  nothing  to  see, 
jno  longer  even  the  island's  dim  shadow,  which  was  already 
;  absorbed  by  the  airy  gloom  creeping  with  tropic  stealthiness 
'  and  celerity  also  into  the  atmosphere  now  that  the  hour  of 
sundown  was  passed.    I  lowered  the  sail  to  save  the  chafe  of  it, 
and  carrying  a  bunch  of  plantains  into  the  stern-sheets,  made 
with  Miss  Grant  a  little  supper  of  them,  helped  with  a  bit  of 
cold  turtle. 

'Do  you  remember,'  she  said,  'when  we  walked  together  at 
Deal  on  that  moonlight  night,  the  day  before  we  sailed,  that 
I  said  the  beauty  of  the  sea  frightened  me  with  its  immensity, 
that  the  magnitude  of  its  sublimity  was  an  oppression  which 
forbad  delight  1  I  remember  some  fancy  of  the  kind  occurring 
to  me,'  she  said,  musingly,  her  face  stealing  out  pale  in  the 
shadow,  with  a  corresponding  deepening  of  the  luminous  dusk 
of  her  eyes.  '  But  how  should  such  beauty  as  this,'  glancing 
round,  and  then  up  at  the  sky  that  in  the  east  was  already 
velvet-like,  with  the  young  moon  in  the  midst  of  it,  whilst  the 
stars  seemed  literally  to  shower  out  upon  the  gaze  if  you  did 
but  watch  any  space  in  the  heavens  for  a  little,  '  affect  people 
situated  as  we  1  How  tremendous  it  all  is,  Mr.  Musgrave !  There 
was  never  this  sort  of  repose  on  the  island.  Listen ! ' 
j  I  strained  my  ear,  whilst  she  looked  at  me  with  a  faint  smile. 
*Not  a  sound,'  she  exclaimed,  after  a  few  moments;  'not  a 
breath,  not  a  whisper  of  air.  Ashore  there  was  always  the 
simmering  of  the  surf,  some  stirring  of  breeze  or  pinions  amidst 
the  foliage,  and  the  song  of  the  crickets,  and  the  rest  of  the 
midnight  concert.  But  here  ;  oh,  listen ! ' 
|  She  paused  again,  with  her  hand  lifted. 

*  Holy  Mother  of  God ! '  she  cried,  with  a  passionate  toss  of 
her  arms.  '  Only  think  of  being  alone  in  this  boat ! ' 

'I  don't  think  my  loneliness  would  last  anyhow,'said  I ;  'I  guess, 
as  Jonathan  says,  I  would  give  myself  about  two  such  nights  as 
this  to  have  a  whole  ship's  company  of  spectres  along  with  me. 
There  are  plenty  of  green  navies  under  our  keel  for  marine 
phantoms  to  rise  up  out  of.  Yes,'  said  I,  pulling  a  cheroot  from 
rny  pocket  for  the  blessed  solace  of  the  mere  smell  of  the  weed, 
*it  would  not  take  me  two  such  nights  as  this  to  introduce  a 
verf  ittracti ve  society  betwixt  these  gunwales.  With  my  mind's 


A  DAY  OF  PERIL  299 

eye  I  already  see  it  clearly :  here,  where  you  are  sitting,  some 
mariner  that  fell  overboard  when  Columbus  was  sailing  this 
way,  his  eyes  full  of  Spanish  fire,  moustachios  curled  upon  his 
cheeks,  and  the  body  sheathed  in  old  metal,  for  they  wore 
armour  in  those  times,  though  I  won't  swear  that  the  forecastle 
Jacks  went  so  clad ;  yonder  in  the  bows  a  grim  old  buccaneer, 
some  tough,  sun-blackened  rogue  of  the  days  of  James  I.,  wear- 
ing a  spiked  beard,  and  grizzled  locks  flowing  upon  his  back,  a 
great  fusee  across  his  knee,  and  a  murderous  hanger  against  his 
hip ;  it  is  not  hard  to  see  him  sitting  yonder  in  the  bows,  his 
arms  folded,  his  head  drooped,  and  a  falcon-look  fixed  tipon  me 
under  the  sleepy  lid  Why,  Miss  Grant,  these  imaginations 

-won't  do,  you  know,'  I  added,  chipping  at  a  little  flint  for  a 
light ;  'but  this  silence  is  wonderful  though,  and  Lord,  how  the 
dew  falls ! ' 

It  was  the  dark  roll  of  the  swell  perhaps  that  rendered  the 
hush  more  oppressive  to  one's  thinking  of  it;  for  the  silence 
with  which  the  folds  swung  along  put  an  inexpressible  quality 
of  ghostliness  into  the  reality  of  the  dusky  run  of  the  water. 
Expectation  seemed  to  crave  for  sound  with  the  sight  of  such 
voluminous  movement,  and  it  made  me  feel  deaf  sometimes  to 
look  at  it  and  hear  nothing. 

You  would  suppose  that  a  couple  placed  as  we  were  would 
find  nothing  to  talk  about  but  our  situation,  of  ships  heaving 
in  sight,  of  the  time  our  stock  of  provisions  and  water  would 
last,  and  so  forth.  Instead,  we  conversed  on  any  other  subject. 
Not  that  we  desired  to  shun  such  topics ;  we  would  recur  to 
them  at  intervals  :  but  in  the  main  our  chat  was  on  matters  in 
which  it  seemed  almost  like  a  sort  of  impiety  to  take  interest 
at  such  a  time  as  this.  I  very  well  recollect  that,  one  thing 
leading  to  another,  she  gave  me  a  description  of  society  at  Rio, 
of  the  balls,  the  dresses,  the  dances  ;  how  the  English  held  aloof ; 
the  brutal  treatment  of  negroes  by  blacks  who,  having  been 
themselves  slaves^  had  ended  by  becoming  the  possessors  of 
slaves.  There  were  long  spells  at  a  time  when  we  forgot  where 
we  were  in  listening  to  one  another.  I  had  been  struck  by  her 
exclamation  when  she  spoke  of  how  she  should  feel  were  she 
alone  in  this  boat,  and  asked  her  if  she  was  a  Koman  Catholic. 

'No,'  she  exclaimed ;  'how  strange,  now,  that  we  should  have 
been  together  for  so  long  a  while,  and  that  you  should  not 
know  what  my  faith  is  1 ' 

'Not  so  strange  if  you  will  but  think  of  it'  said  L  'There 
are  no  churches  at  sea,  and  old  Broadwater's  discipline  was  not 
of  a  sort  to  furnish  one  with  a  chance  of  discovering  a  fellow- 
passenger's  religion.' 

'My  mother  died  a  Catholic.  She  wished  me  to  be  of  her 
faith,  and  of  the  faith  of  her  forefathers.  My  father  belonged 
to  the  Kirk,  Mr.  Musgrave,  and  my  mother  was  a  very  sweet, 
yielding,  docile  woman,  and  I  am  glad  it  is  with  me  as  it  is, 
though  I  feel  that  to  be  good  is  to  be  all  To  be  able  to  say 


294  MAROONED 

that  if  God  can  read  your  heart  you  need  not  be  afraid,  is  to  be 
happy  within  yourself — ' 

Hark !  what  was  that  ?  We  both  started.  A  strange  sound 
came  sweeping  along  the  polished  brows  of  the  undulating 
water,  as  though  some  steamer  at  the  distance  of  a  mile  or  two 
were  letting  off  steam  in  regular  respiratory  intervals.  It  was 
a  long,  seething,  blowing  noise,  followed  by  the  sharp  showering 
sound  of  water  foaming  into  water  from  the  height  of  a  cataract. 
It  was  right  astern  of  us.^  I  turned  and  peered  into  the  dimness 
there,  but  could  see  nothing. 

'What  is  it,  do  you  think,  Mr.  Musgravet' 

The  girl's  question  was  answered  by  the  sudden  upheaval  of 
a  long  black  fine  floating  up  like  the  keel  of  an  inverted  ship, 
with  a  brilliant  sparkling  or  phosphorescent  light  all  along  the 
ebon  side  of  it,  off  which  rose  a  faint  gleam  to  the  reflection  of 
the  horn  of  moon  and  to  the  shine  of  the  planets  and  bright 
stars  in  the  wet  blackness,  instantly  followed  by  the  same  steam- 
like  hissing  we  had  before  heard,  only  that  it  was  now  so  close 
the  blast  of  it  came  tingling  to  the  ear  through  the  dead  hush  ; 
and  with  this  sound  there  rose  into  the  dusk  a  great  feather- 
shaped,  cloudy  spout  of  water,  green  as  emerald,  and  radiant  as 
though  it  were  vapour  illuminated  by  the  glare  of  a  signal-light 
with  the  sea-fire  that  swarmed  in  it. 

'A  big  whale,  by  Jove ! '  said  I,  'and  unpleasantly  near  to  us 
too.' 

Indeed  the  black  mass  had  risen  within  pistol-shot ;  but  the 
very  element  of  fear  its  proximity  induced  deepened  the  impres- 
siveness  of  the  dark  grandeur,  the  majestic,  mysterious  beauty 
of  the  show.  Oh,  never  to  be  forgotten  was  the  sight  of  that 
leviathan  shadow  oozing  out  of  the  indigo  gleamless  stagnation, 
looking  half  a  mile  long  with  the  loom  of  it  upon  the  clear 
obscure,  the  sea  rippling  in  fire  against  its  sides,  and  its  liquid 
spout  shooting  up  into  a  column  like  a  dull  green  flame,  arching 
over  at  its  summit  as  though  curled  by  a  breeze  of  wind,  and 
falling  in  a  burning  shower  into  the  water  that  flashed  to  the 
discharge,  till  the  curved  substance  of  the  big  fish  loomed  as 
big  and  black  again  as  it  was  against  this  mystic  radiance  of 
its  own  making.  Presently  the  huge  shape  melted  out,  but 
some  time  afterwards  it  spouted  afresh  down  in  the  south-west, 
the  bulk  of  it  rising  fair  in  the  slender  feathering  of  silver 
under  the  moon,  whilst  a  second  monster  blew  about  a  mile 
away  down  in  the  north,  the  sounds  following  one  another 
through  the  silence  for  all  the  world  like  some  mighty  giant 
rumbling  into  a  few  snores  in  his  sleep ;  and  then  we  saw  no 
more  of  the  creatures,  though  the  notion  that  there  might  be 
others  about  kept  us  both  exceedingly  uneasy  with  the  fancy 
of  a  sudden  shattering  hoist-up  starwards  with  the  rising  of 
one  of  these  monsters  under  our  keel,  its  blow-hole  right  amid- 
ships of  us. 

Not  a  breath  of  air  yet    Tou  saw  the  exquisite  polish  on  the 


A  DAY  OF  PERIL  295 

water  in  the  untarnished  flake  of  some  large  star's  reflection 
as  it  rode  the  black  brow  of  the  swell,  widening  as  it  went. 
During  such  dead  hours  as  these  I  knew  there  would  be  no 
earthly_  chance  for  us  ;  for,  as  I  have  long  ago  said,  steam  was 
not  as  it  is  now.  There  was  but  sail  to  think  of,  and  nothing 
could  be  stirring  on  such  a  night.  The  atmosphere  was  heavy 
with  dew  that  made  it  cool.  The  thwarts  and  the  line  of  the 
boat's  gunwale  sparkled  with  the  moisture  as  though  crystal- 
lized. I  shipped  my  pea-coat  to  keep  my  shirt  dry,  and  wrapped 
a  shawl  round  Miss  Grant.  As  bad  a  part  as  any  of  it  all  was 
the  want  of  space ;  the  cramped  feeling  that  came  into  the 
body  with  the  very  look  of  our  narrow  quarters,  let  alone  the 
"reality  of  them.  She  was  a  fat  boat  happily,  of  a  lubberly, 
motherly  roundness,  like  the  half  of  an  apple,  staunch  and 
comparatively  new,  an  honest  ship's  quarter-boat,  in  a  word, 
worth  dollars  enough  I  dare  say  to  have  brought  some  evil 
mutterings  into  the  throat  of  the  skipper  of  the  ship  she  had 
belonged  to,  when  he  peered  over  the  stern  and  found  her 
gone.  Her  beam  and  the  heaviness  of  her  build,  that  gave 
her  a  firm  seat  on  the  water,  enabled  us  to  move  without  fear 
of  capsizing  her,  and  from  time  to  time  I  would  give  Miss 
Grant  my  hand,  and  get  her  to  step  from  thwart  to  thwart 
for  the  ease  and  comfort  of  the  motion  after  the  long  spells  of 
cramped  sitting. 

At  last  it  came  to  an  hour  when  I  told  her  she  must  lie  down 
and  sleep. 

*  I  shall  be  able  to  doze  as  I  sit  here,  I  am  sure,'  she  answered. 

'Be  guided  by  me,  my  dear  Miss  Grant.  Every  bor.o  in  you 
•will  ache  like  the  gout  if  you  slumber  seated  on  this  hard 
board  with  your  back  against  the  side.  See,  now,  the  sort  of 
bed  I  have  had  in  my  mind  for  you  all  along.' 

I  placed  a  strapped  rug  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  closo 
against  the  stern-sheets,  to  serve  as  a  pillow,  then  spread  other 
rugs  along  with  shawls  as  a  mattress,  reserving  yet  a  rug,  for 
we  were  well  supplied  in  this  way,  to  cover  her  with. 

'  Now,'  said  I,  '  if  you  will  remove  your  hat,  and  pull  the  hood 
of  your  cloak  over  your  head  and  lie  down,  you  will  rest  as 
comfortably  as  ever  you  did  in  your  underground  room.' 

'Why  will  you  not  take  some  rest  first,  Mr.  Musgrave?  I 
can  keep  watch,  if  indeed  any  sort  of  watchfulness  is  necessary 
on  such  a  death-like  night  as  this.  Sleep  whilst  you  can.  There 
may  come  a  change  of  weather  which  will  prevent  you  from 
obtaining  repose.  You  can  trust  me  to  awaken  you  if  the  need 
for  doing  so  should  happen.' 

But  I  said  no ;  she  had  not  closed  her  eyes  last  night.  I 
would  call  her  by  and  by,  and  then  she  could  relieve  me,  as  the 
sea  saying  is.  She  would  have  remonstrated,  but  I  took  her 
hand,  pressed  it  to  my  lips,  with  a  gentle  courting  of  her,  by 
retaining  her  hand,  to  leave  her  se.it,  so  without  saying  more 
ghe  removed  her  hat,  turned  that  I  might  adjust  the  hood  to 


2?tt  MAROONED 

her  head,  and  lay  down.'  I  covered  her  carefully,  snugging  hef 
little  feet  which  extended  under  the  thwart,  ana  then  fitted  a 
small  umbrella  over  her  head  to  shelter  it  from  the  dew.  I 
asked  her  if  she  was  comfortable,  peering  as  I  spoke  under  the 
umbrella  at  the  delicate  glimmer  of  the  beauty  of  her  brow 
and  cheek  in  the  shadow  there.  She  answered  gently,  yes  ;  and 
disengaging  her  hand  from  the  shawl,  extended  it  to  me. 

'  How  good  you  are,  how  kind  you  are  1 '  she  exclaimed.  '  Oh. 
Mr.  Musgrave,  how  would  it  have  been  with  me  but  for  you  i 
and  how  do  I  repay  you? — by  bringing  you  into  these  cruel 
experiences  and  wretched  adventures. 

I  again  pressed  my  lips  to  her  fingers,  that  being  the  only 
answer  I  dared  make  just  then,  and  sat  down  to  chip  in  an 
agitated  way  at  my  tinder-box  for  a  light  to  consume  the  cheroot 
that  was  but  half  smoked  out.  When  I  hear  people  talk  of 
romantic  situations,  picturesque  surroundings,  and  the  like,  I 
sometimes  look  back  and  recall  that  night,  and  put  it  before  me. 
Romance  ! — let  the  reader,  if  he  be  a  man,  take  my  place  in  fancy 
— as  my  place  then  was — and  shut  his  eyes  and  think.  Why 
surely,  if  poetry  is  ever  to  be  found  in  conditions  of  human 
distress,  I  fancy  you  will  find  the  sanctification  of  it  in  our  situa- 
tion this  night  in  an  open  boat — alone — amidst  the  scarce  visible 
undulations  of  the  dark  ocean,  stretching  with  a  measureless 
shadow  into  the  liquid  gloom  that  looked  as  far  off  as  the 
celestial  lights  which  shone  in  it ;  alone  ! — but  the  more  alone 
for  the  sight  of  the  stars  trembling  their  multitudinous,  unsym- 
pathetic gaze  at  us — eyes  as  they  seemed  to  me  of  countless 
phantoms  heedful  of  us  only  out  of  curiosity — with  the  vast 
silence  between,  that  you  felt  as  a  breathless  pause  up  there, 
as  if  some  expected  end  were  at  hand  which  the  Spirit  or  Night, 
inclining  towards  us  with  respiration  checked,  was  awaiting. 
And  that  was  not  all  either  ;  indeed  it  was  the  least  part  of  it 
to  my  mood  then.  Add  the  lovely  form  of  the  woman,  for  whom 
my  passion  was  already  deep  it  secret,  reposing  at  my  feet. 
The  eyes  of  a  lover's  imagination,  like  those  of  a  cat  or  an  owl, 
see  best  in  the  dark ;  and  the  wan  gleam  of  her  face — for  a  gleam 
the  whiteness  of  it  looked—was  wrought  by  my  fancy  into 
the  damask  beauty  and  rich  impassioned  glances  of  the  sunlit 
reality;  till,  though  she  lay  there  vague  as  the  dusk  could  make 
her,  she  yet  slumbered  before  me  in  her  perfections,  so  that 
through  a  long  spell  of  that  watch  'twas  a  sort  of  doting  with 
me,  from  which  I  was  not  to  be  broken  away  by  an  occasional 
thought  of  Alexander  clipping  in  between. 

Indeed,  I  was  beginning  to  think  that  I  had  earned  this 
woman  ;  that  our  association  was  now,  as  it  had  been  all  along, 
of  a  kind  to  render  possession  an  obligation;  nor  was  my 
honour  any  longer  startled  by  such  fancier  In  love,  I  suspect 
a  man's  conscience  towards  others  is  sensitive  as  his  passion  is 
weak.  His  fine  talk  of  duty  is  proportioned  to  the  slenderness 
of  his  stake  of  emotion.  As  his  heart  sinks  into  a  woman's, 


A  DAY  OF  PERIL  297 

moral  obligations  are  left  behind,  floating  atop  like  bladders 
whose  support  he  no  longer  requires.  Whilst  I  sat  swaying 
with  the  heave  of  the  boat,  sucking  at  my  cheroot,  my  mind 
went  to  Alexander,  and  I  thought  to  myself,  as  I  glanced  at  the 
sleeping  girl,  and  then  swept  my  sight  over  the  great  desolation 
of  the  star-touched  sea,  Does  not  my  cousin  deserve  this  ?  Has 
he  not  brought  it  about  ?  He  knew  that  I  was  a  single  man, 
accentuated  it  indeed,  that  he  might  correct  any  hesitation  in 
me.  He  was  also  aware  that  I  was  young.  Was  it  just  in  him 
to  urge  upon  me  a  long  shipboard  intimacy  with  a  beautiful 
•woman,  and  expect  me  to  emerge  unscarred  from  such  com- 
merce, whole-hearted,  capable  of  resigning  her  with  a  smile  and 
a""  handshake,  as  if  she  were  some  parcel  of  precious  stones  of 
which  he  was  the  consignee?  When  the  hour  to  surrender  her 
arrives,  I  thought,  looking  down — but,  Lord,  will  it  ever  arrive '? 
And  I  remember  shuddering  wildly  and  on  a  sudden,  with  an 
involuntary  hugging  of  my  pea-jacket  to  me,  as  though  a  chill 
had  come  into  my  marrow,  to  the  presence  of  this  high  and 
sparkling  night,  and  to  the  black  sweep  of  the  sea-line,  and  to 
the  solitude  made  awful  by  the  silence  and  enormous  by  the 
low-lying  stars. 

I  dropped  my  extinguished  fragment  of  cigar  over  the  side. 
The  water  was  so  full  of  fire  that  the  fall  of  this  mere  morsel  of 
leaf  chipped  a  flash  out  of  it  like  a  spark  from  a  horse's  hoof 
against  a  flint ;  and  as  though  the  lambent  flame  had  ignited 
some  fantastic  firework  shape  beneath  it,  there  sparkled  out, 
green  and  bright,  the  huge  outline  of  a  shark,  the  beast  of  the 
afternoon  maybe.  The  creature  looked  as  if  it  were  the  sketch 
of  such  a  thing,  painted  by  a  brush  dipped  in  flame  in  the  dai'k 
water.  It  was  moving  stealthily ;  the  tremor  of  its  fins  made 
just  a  little  showering  of  spangles  at  those  extremities,  with 
a  thin,  green,  fiery  vein  of  wake  streaming  out  from  its  tail 
like  a  rubbing  of  phosphorus  on  the  wall  of  a  darkened  room. 
The  shining  configuration  drove  ahead  a  short  way  past  the 
bows,  and  then  the  lines  of  light  blackened  out,  whereby  I  knew 
that  the  beast  had  come  to  a  stand.  But  the  shape  shone  again 
presently,  heading  towards  the  moon's  reflection,  and  vanished. 
However,  it  was  horribly  uncomfortable  to  feel  that  such  a 
creature  was  lurking  near,  and  it  checked  my  romancing  in  a 
most  magical  manner.  I  could  think  no  more  of  Alexander. 
My  yearning  now  was  for  a  breeze.  But  the  star-flakes  rode 
as  unblurred  as  droppings  of  quicksilver  upon  the  swing  of  the 
swell,  and  there  was  not  the  sound  of  a  sigh  of  air  to  be  caught 
stealing  through  the  silence  of  the  night. 

It  would  be  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning — some  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour  before  dawn  at  all  events — that  Miss  Grant 
suddenly  sat  up  with  a  little  exclamation  of  astonishment,  to 
which  cramp  might  have  added  a  note  of  its  own. 

'  Oh  ! '  she  cried, '  I  have  been  dreaming  I  did  not  know  where 
I  was.  Pray  help  me  up,  Mr.  Musgrave. 


298  MAROONED 

*The  dawn  will  be  here  shortly/  said  I;  'why  not  sleep  the 
night  out  ? ' 

'  The  dawn  !  Then  you  have  let  me  take  more  than  my  share 
of  rest.  Pray  help  me  up.  I  have  slept  soundly.' 

On  this  I  cleared  away  the  umbrella,  removed  the  shawl  that 
wrapped  her  about,  and  assisted  her  on  to  her  feet. 

4  Still  the  same  dead  calm,'  she  exclaimed,  looking  round  her. 
'  Now,  Mr.  Musgrave,  you  will  please  lie  down.' 

'No,  I  can  get  the  forty  winks  I  want  here  quite  comfortably.' 

'  But  you  will  go  on  talking,  if  you  sit  instead  of  lying  down, 
and  thus  a  second  night  will  pass  without  your  having  closed 
your  eyes.' 

'  But  I  don't  need  to  plank  it  to  sleep,'  said  L  '  I  won't  talk,  I 
promise  you.  Observe  now  how  in  earnest  I  am,'  and  so  saying, 
I  turned  up  the  collar  of  my  coat,  folded  my  arms,  and  let  drop 
my  chin  in  a  proper  sleeping  posture  ;  and  sure  enough,  in  less 
than  three  minutes  I  was  in  a  sound  slumber,  for  I  never  could 
have  imagined  how  worn  out  I  was  until  I  shut  my  eyes  and 
fairly  got  under  way  for  a  doze. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  I  had  not  been  sleeping  five  minutes 
when  I  was  awakened  by  Miss  Gi-ant  moving ;  I  started,  and 
found  myself  leaning  my  full  weight  against  her,  my  head  very 
coolly  resting  upon  her  shoulder. 

4 1  am  so  grieved  to  disturb  you,'  she  said  ;  '  but  a  little  breeze 
has  sprung  up,  with  some  clouds  darkening  down  in  the  west 
there,  and  I  knew  you  would  wish  me  to  arouse  you.' 

The  dawn  lay  green  to  starboard,  a  queer,  most  melancholy 
smudge  of  muddy  light,  looking  to  ooze  rather  than  to  flow  up 
into  the  dusk,  as  though  it  was  some  dull,  thick,  luminous  atmo- 
sphere lifting  with  difficulty  against  the  palpable  obscure.  The 
raven-hued  sea-line  ran  straight  as  a  rule  against  it.  A  twink- 
ling of  running  waters  was  in  the  air,  with  delicate  seething 
noises  of  ripples  coursing  nimbly  into  foam.  Indeed,  it  was 
blowing  a  pleasant  breeze  of  wind,  with  a  hint  of  briskness 
presently  in  the  hum  of  it  sweeping  out  of  the  western  gloom  • 
with  the  stars  all  eclipsed  down  tkere  by  range  upon  range  of 
dusky  shadows,  which  gave  a  significance  to  this  wind  that  woke 
me  to  my  full  senses  promptly  enough,  I  can  tell  you,  as  soon  as 
ever  my  sleepy  eye  turned  to  the  larboard  seaboard. 

'  Due  west,  as  I  live ! '  said  I,  '  since  that  faintness  yonder 
must  be  in  the  east.  Heaven  deliver  us !  Why  couldn't  this 
blessed  air  have  come  away  with  the  sun  ? ' 

'  It  may  give  us  the  sight  of  a  ship  though,'  she  exclaimed, 
*  let  it  blow  whence  it  wilL' 

'  Ay,'  said  I,  '  and  thanks  for  that  grain  of  comfort.  But  it  is 
abominably  mortifying  nevertheless.  Needs  must,  however, 
where  Old  Nick  drives,  and  so,  Miss  Grant,  for  a  ratch  to  the 
southward,  if  our  shawls  will  suffer  this  little  hooker  to  look 
that  way.' 

I  rose,  and  added, '  How  good  of  you  to  pillow  my  head  I    We 


A  BAY  OF  PERIL  299 

are  supposed  to  be  irresponsible  in  our  sleep ;  but  I  think  T 
showed  myself  pretty  rational — I  might  have  swayed  towards 
the  gunwale  instead — but  you  should  have  shaken  me  off.' 

'Indeed,'  she  answered  quietly,  'you  did  sway  towards  the 
gunwale,  and  that  you  might  rest  with  some  little  comfort,  I 
coaxed  your  head  to  my  shoulder.' 

'And  it  went  willingly  enough,  I  don't  doubt,'  said  I,  somehow 
wishing  she  had  made  more  of  this  by  her  voice,  for  it  was  too 
dark  yet  to  see  the  expression  of  her  face.  But  then  it  was  im- 
possible not  to  forget  at  moments  that  she  and  I  were  alone. 

I  laid  hold  of  the  halliards  and  mastheaded  the  yard,  and 
Jbringing  the  sheet  aft,  got  it  flat  with  a  good  lee  helm,  and  in  a 
moment  or  two  the  breezy  ripples  were  washing  along  the  boat's 
bends  ;  but  though  I  dragged  the  sheet  as  flat  as  I  durst,  dreading 
to  rend  the  shawls  by  too  hearty  a  pull,  I  found  I  could  not  bring 
the  dawn,  that  was  brightening  fast,  on  our  lee-beam.  In  fact, 
the  sun  rose  broad  upon  our  bow,  and  there  were  we  heading 
away  south-east,  with  a  westerly  breeze  in  chase  of  us,  and  no 
chance  of  the  boat  making  a  better  course,  trim  as  I  might. 
But  this,  like  everything  else  that  had  happened,  could  not  b^ 
helped.  So  soon  as  the  sunlight  flashed  fair  over  the  sea,  I  stood 
up  and  took  a  long  look  around,  then  seated  myself  again  with 
a  momentary  sickening  of  heart  to  the  bitter  familiar  sterility 
of  the  broad  spread  of  ocean.  There  was  no  sign  of  pur  island 
either,  though  it  was  impossible  it  could  be  many  miles  below 
the  horizon.  The  clouds  that  at  dawn  had  looked  swollen  and 
dark  as  thunder,  showed  white  and  swelling  as  snow-covered 
mountains  now  that  the  sunlight  was  upon  them  ;  but  though 
they  rose  slowly,  I  was  sure  they  meant  wind,  the  more  so  from 
the  colour  of  the  sky  floating  out  of  them,  a  dimmish  blue, 
rnoist  and  filmy,  to  where  it  brightened  into  the  dazzle  of  th« 
sun.  But  spite  of  its  being  a  bad  wind  for  us,  the  sound  of 
it  in  the  air,  the  sparkling  movement  of  the  waters,  the  lifu 
t  hat  the  blowing  put  into  the  whole  scene,  came  grateful  as  a 
relief  after  the  clock  calm  of  yesterday  and  the  night.  Some 
hope  was  to  be  got  out  of  it,  at  all  events  ;  not  a  flicker  of  foam 
but  that  might  at  any  moment  change  into  die  star-like  shining 
of  canvas ;  whereas  the  roasting  tranquillity  of  the  hours  we 
had  passed  through,  toppod  by  the  doadness  of  the  night, 
forbade  so  much  as  a  wistful  fancy  in  that  way. 

I  glanced  at  my  companion  to  observe  how  she  was  weather- 
ing this  bad  time.  There  was  a  little  languor  perhaps  in  her 
eyes,  a  suggestion  of  weariness  in  the  set  cf  her  lips,  and  her 
face  was  pale  :  but  1  witnessed  nothing  beyond ;  no  symptom 
of  the  haggaruness  which  follows  long  exposure,  and  the  sort  of 
anxiety  that  is  bred  by  the  constant  conf  rontment  of  danger. 
She  met  my  gaze  with  a  smile  full  of  spirit,  and  patience,  and 
serenity. 

'You  are  bearing  all  this  far  better  than  I  should  have  dared 
hope,'  said  I,  'but  some  sort  of  end  must  be  at  hand  surely. 


300  MAROONED 

Why,  it  would  imperil  the  reputation  of  a  writer  of  romanca  M 
an  artist  to  add  in  his  book  even  but  one  more  adventure  to 
the  catalogue  we  have  left  astern.' 

'We  have  been  so  mercifully  watched  over  so  far,'  she 
answered,  'that  I  am  sure  we  need  not  fear  what  remains  to 
come.  And  then  when  it  is  all  over  how  small  it  will  seem  ! '  I 
shook  my  head  doubtingly.  '  Oh  yes,'  she  cried, '  it  is  the  same 
with  all  sorts  of  trouble.  People  when  they  are  ill  think  they 
can  never  forget  their  sufferings ;  but  they  do,  or  at^  least  they 
make  very  little  of  them  when  they  get  welL  It  is  like  the 
weather  that  is  hot  or  cold,  or  wet  or  dry,  outside  the  memory 
of  the  oldest  inhabitant.  But  it  passes  from  the  mind,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  year  it  is  all  one,  Mr.  Musgrave.' 

*  Well,'  said  L  '  yours  is  very  good  philosophy  to  help  one  to 
triumph  over  ills  which  have  passed,  but  whilst  those  ills  are 
with  us,  the  victory,  I  fear,  must  remain  with  them.' 

Slowly  the  breeze  freshened,  but  scarce  with  weight  sufficient 
in  it  yet  to  raise  sea  enough  to  render  me  uneasy.  The  clouds 
in  the  west  gradually  soared,  and  some  scatterings  of  them  in 
feathers  and  crescents  of  vapour,  blown  from  the  brows  of  the 
main  body,  sailed  like  so  many  new  moons  into  the  blue 
mistiness.  The  sun  glared  strong  over  the  bow,  with  so  much 
throbbing  brilliance  in  the  ocean  all  that  way,  that  the  eye 
wept  if  you  but  rested  it  there  for  a  moment.  But  the  wind 
took  something  of  the  sting  out  of  the  heat,  and  the  plash  of 
the  foam  over  the  side  was  so  refreshing  to  the  ear  that  the 
sound  of  it  seemed  to  melt  with  a  sensation  of  coolness  through 
and  through  the  system.  We  broke  our  fast  with  some  craw- 
fish and  oranges,  and  a  drink  of  water :  meanwhile  incessantly 
directing  glances  round  the  sea  in  searcn  of  a  ship,  for  it  seemed 
impossible  that  such  a  wind  as  this  could  hang  steady,  with  our 
own  southerly  trend  besides,  without  heaving  something  to 
help  us  in  sight. 

As  the  morning  advanced  the  breeze  freshened.  The  clouds 
were  now  broken  up  into  vast  puffs  of  vapour,  white  as  steam, 
which  came  rolling  stately  out  of  the  west,  darkening  wide 
spaces  of  the  running,  frothing  blue  with  violet  shadows.  The 
sea  was  beginning  to  hollow  a  bit,  too ;  the  ridges  growing 
wider  and  deeper,  along  with  a  sound  of  snarling  in  the  seeth- 
ing slide  of  their  heads.  The  yawns  in  the  sail  where  the 
shawls  had  been  united  widened  ;  the  yard  I  had  manufactured 
from  a  bough  of  a  fallen  tree  fell  to  buckling  uncomfortably 
to  the  growing  leaps  and  plunges  of  the  boat.  Indeed,  I 
presently  found  that  if  the  shawls  were  to  stand  the  sheet  must 
be  slackened  out  yet,  so  that  before  it  was  ten  o'clock  that 
morning  we  were  running  eastward  with  the  wind  almost 
astern  of  us,  blowing  away  as  fate  would  have  it  in  the  quite 
wrong  direction  ;  a  windy  sky  behind,  a  hollow  sea  all  about  us, 
and  nothing  in  sight  save  a  dull,  slate-coloured  smudge  just 
visible  when  a  sea  threw  us  up,  far  away  down  upon  toe  star- 


A  DAY  OP!  PERIL  901 

board  quarter — our  island  no  doubt,  for  its  bearings,  according 
to  my  calculation,  were  thereabouts.  Could  we  only  have  hoisted 
cloths  on  our  mast  fit  to  sail  such  a  boat  as  this  by,  I  believe 
I  should  have  tried  for  that  island  again,  if  only  to  freshen 
ourselves  up  by  a  rest  ashore,  and  to  lay  in  a  further  stock  of 
fruit.  It  was  some  years  since  I  had  nandled  a  boat,  but  it 
would  all  have  come  back  to  me  quickly,  I  dare  say,  had  we  had 
shipshape  and  seaworthy  materials  to  deal  with  :  but  there  was 
nothing  to  be  done  with  the  shawls.  They  would  have  parted 
to  any  approach  to  tension  of  the  sheet,  and  so  there  was  no  luff 
at  all  to  be  got  out  of  them.  However,  by  noon  I  had  begun  to 
Jthink  that  were  we  under  as  honest  a  lug-sail  as  was  ever 
mastheaded,  I  should  have  had  to  up  helm  and  run  for  it,  for  it 
was  now  blowing  fresh  indeed  ;  such  a  Avind  as  a  ship  on  a  bow- 
line would  offer  a  main-topgallant-sail  to,  and  nothing  above  it. 
Under  our  queer  sail  that  looked  like  a  Dutch  flag,  the  colours 
up  and  down  instead  of  horizontal,  we  stormed  along,  driving 
God  knows  where,  saving  that  we  knew  the  great  Atlantic  Ocean 
stretched  past  the  throbbing  boundary  over  our  bows.  The 
little  boat  sheered  through  it  like  an  arrow,  making  one  long 
floating  slide  after  another,  with  a  short  pause  in  the  drop  of 
her  stern  to  the  yawn  of  water,  and  then  a  lightning-like  rush 
forwards  as  the  running  sapphire  knoll  in  chase  washed  brim- 
ming to  her,  giving  us  a  hoist  that  caused  the  ocean  to  look  as 
wide  and  wild  again  ;  with  the  flash  of  the  wind  too  into  our 
gaudy  spread  of  sail  that  made  me  regularly  expect  to  find  it  in 
rags  next  minute.  The  little  craft  needed  nice  steering.  The  foam 
would  come  boiling  to  your  fingers  as  they  clasped  the  gunwale, 
and  the  least  swerve  at  such  a  moment  must  have  swamped  and 
drowned  us  out  of  hand.  It  was  a  rushing  scene  indeed,  and 
there  was  something  of  madness  to  our  distracted  brains  in  the 
eager  flashing  life  of  it  all.  The  rolling  of  the  clouds  along  the 
sky  ;  the  headlong  passage  of  their  shadows  over  us  ;  the  leap 
of  the  sun  from  the  edge  of  one  wide  mass  of  vapour  to  the 
next ;  the  swift  hurl  of  the  seas — the  swifter  to  the  eye  for  their 
impatient,  impetuous  heave  of  the  snow  from  their  brows  to 
ahead  of  them — the  sparking  out  of  flying-fish  from  either  side 
our  running  boat ;  the  shriek  of  the  wind  past  our  ears  when  it 
swept  fair  and  full  at  us  to  the  rise  of  the  little  fabric  to  the 
height  of  the  surge  ;  the  blue  finger-like  dartings  of  the  breeze 
upon  the  smooth  sides  of  the  liquid  slopes  ahead,  combined  with 
the  sensation  of  our  helpless  velocity,  offered  such  a  picture  of 
movement  to  the  imagination,  that  the  mind  might  be  defied  to 
witness  the  like  of  it  even  amidst  the  commotion  of  a  tempest 
from  the  deck  of  a  large  ship. 

Miss  Grant  sat  by  my  side,  apparently  unmoved.  I'd  see  her 
sometimes  glance  astern  in  the  moment  of  some  unusually  high 
billow  running  us  up  with  a  roar  and  dazzle  of  foam  to  the 
level  of  the  quarters,  but  without  a  hint  in  her  face  of  quailing 
to  the  sight,  without  a  tremor  in  the  decision  you  saw  in  the 


202  MAROONED 

marble-like  set  of  her  lips.  This  was  one  of  the  realities  indeed 
her  spirit  could  confront.  She  had  shrunk  from  entering  the 
underground  rooms,  she  had  been  exceedingly  perturbed  by  the 
midnight  tolling  of  the  bell  in  the  forest,  and  now  amidst  a 
peril  that  might  most  honestly  have  blanched  the  cheek  of  a 
tough  old  salt,  she  was  as  calm  as  though  she  slumbered.  Some- 
times, but  at  long  intervals,  she  addressed  me.  It  was  almost 
impossible  to  converse,  however.  The  mere  sight  of  the  flying 
sea  kept  one's  thoughts  in  a  wild  popple,  like  the  water,  dis- 
jointing the  links  of  coherence  almost.  The  noises  too  were 
horribly  confusing — the  ceaseless  hiss  of  billows  breaking  into 
foam,  the  distant  thunderous  sound  of  warring  waters  swelling 
into  volume,  with  the  scream  of  the  wind  cleaving  it.  Besides, 
what  wits  I  had  I  required  to  devote  to  the  steering.  Our 
salvation  indeed  might  lie  in  the  holding  out  of  our  sail,  and  in 
the  drag  of  it  that  was  rushing  our  keel  clear  of  the  smother  of 
the  avalanches  chasing  usj  but  then  it  was  just  the  sort  of 
navigation  to  be  tyrannic  in  its  demands  upon  the  nerve  and 
eye;  the  swiftness  of  the  boat  made  her  responses  to  the 
movement  of  the  helm  so  instantaneously  sensitive  that  the 
controlling  of  her  to  the  course  of  a  dart  engrossed  every 
thought  I  had  mind  enough  to  summon.  One  heedless  move- 
ment of  the  tiller,  and  the  next  minute  would  have  seen  the 
boat  bottom  up. 

And  still  the  sea  went  frothing  to  its  confines  tenantless,  our 
little  craft  the  only  object  visible  upon  its  breast  for  leagues  and 
leagues.  Were  our  adventures  to  end  then  in  our  being  drowned 
after  all  ?  Had  we  quitted  the  island,  where  at  least  our  lives 
were  safe  if  our  existence  was  miserable,  to  court,  as  my  fears 
had  sometimes  foreboded,  a  miserable  fatet  My  unemployed 
hand  instinctively  sought  that  of  the  girl  by  my  side.  She  held 
it  as  if  she  would  comfort  me  by  so  doing,  smiling  to  my  swift 
glance  at  her,  for  I  durst  then  have  no  eyes  but  for  the  boat. 

*  You  are  steering  the  little  ship  admirably,'  she  exclaimed ; 
*  the  wind  does  not  increase,  I  think,  and  if  this  be  so,  then  since 
we  have  been  safe  so  far,  we  have  a  right  to  hope  that  all  will 
continue  weD  with  us.  Don't  be  dispirited.  Your  old  instincts 
as  a  sailor  are  equal  to  worse  difficulties  than  this.' 

'  Blessings  on  my  head  for  having  brought  you  here  ! '  said  L 
'  You  speak  of  my  old  instincts  as  a  sailor  ;  they  should  not  have 
driven  me  into  acting  the  fool.  We  ought  to  have  remained  on 
the  island.  I  was  mad  to  subject  you  to  the  experiences  of  an 
open  boat.' 

1 1  would  sooner  be  here,'  she  answered  j  '  there  is  hope  for  ua 
in  this  little  flying  shape  ;  there  was  none  on  that  dismal  rock, 
with  its  gloomy  cave  and  the  silence  of  the  night  there ' 

This  was  as  much  as  we  could  say  at  a  time. 

The  strong  breeze  held  all  day,  freshening  at  moments  with 
noisy  guns  and  spiteful  blasts,  but  happily  these  stormy  intervals 
were  of  short  duration,  otherwise  such  a  sea  must  have  been  set 


A  DAY  OF  PERIL  303 

running  as  would  hare  yielded  me  but  a  poor  chance  indeed  of 
keeping  the  boat  afloat.  I  thought  the  day  would  never  come 
to  an  end,  though  I  dreaded  its  ending  too,  when  my  mind  went 
to  the  prospect  of  the  dark  night  that  was  to  come,  with  the 
added  weight  of  wind,  which  in  all  probability  would  follow  the 
sun's  departure.  From  time  to  time  a  sea  dissolving  in  foain 
under  us  would  Lap  inboard  on  either  hand,  with  a  pouring  of 
seething  white  water  that  hissed  to  our  ankles  as  the  little  craft 
swung  her  nose  up  ;  and  on  these  occasions,  not  daring  to  let  go 
the  helm,  I  was  forced  to  put  Miss  Grant  to  the  job  of  baling, 
which  she  managed  with  wonderful  spirit  and  swiftness,  flinging 
the  water  out  over  the  side  with  the  soup  and  boulli  tin  that  we 
used  for  a  drinking  vessel  as  fast  almost  as  the  second-hand  of  a 
watch  travels,  till  the  boat  spi-ang  forward  again  freed  from  this 
cold,  sobbing,  and  sinister  f reight. 

A  little  before  sunset  I  spied  a  sail  right  ahead.  The  angry 
crimson  in  the  west  seemed  to  roll  like  the  clouds  into  the  far 
east,  where  it  hung  in  a  smoking  red  haze  that  looked  cyclonic 
with  the  huddled  loom  of  the  vapour  behind  it,  driven  in  a 
heap  down  there  by  the  wind,  and  in  the  heart  of  this  stormy 
radiance  I  saw  the  sail  But  whatever  the  craft  might  be  she 
was  hull  down,  and  the  red  canvas  of  her,  more  like  a  live 
cinder  than  the  fabric  of  a  vessel,  was  to  be  caught  only  from 
the  head  of  a  sea  when  it  lifted  us.  I  pointed  it  out  to  Miss 
Grant,  rather  for  the  hope  the  sight  might  yield  her  than  for 
any  imaginable  good  it  could  be  to  us ;  and  she  rose,  passing 
her  arm  round  my  neck  to  steady  herself,  and  there  was  so 
much  of  an  unconscious  caress  in  this  action,  as  though  her 
heart  dictated  a  gesture  unnoted  by  her  reason,  that  it  was 
through  Heaven's  mercy  alone  the  thrill  of  delight  the  contact 
of  her  white  hand  against  my  neck  sent  through  me,  did  not 
cause  me  to  head  the  boat  off  and  founder  her. 

She  had  barely  resumed  her  seat,  and  was  seemingly  about 
to  address  me,  when  the  wind  breezed  up  with  a  shriek,  the 
puff  taking  us  precisely  as  we  swung  to  the  ridge  of  a  billow, 
and  away  went  the  shawls,  all  three  of  them  vanishing  ahead 
like  a  fragment  of  rainbow,  leaving  the  yard  in  halves,  hanging 
to  the  halliards  like  the  legs  of  a  pair  of  compasses  slightly 
open.  I  half  rose  with  the  intention  of  converting  the  shawl 
that  had  been  wrapped  about  Miss  Grant  during  the  night 
into  a  jib-headed  aii'air,  which  might  provide  surface  enough  to 
scud  under,  with  some  promise  of  the  pull  of  it  keeping  us 
ahead  of  the  seas,  but  I  changed  my  mind  on  second  thoughts. 
*  Where  are  we  going  to  ? '  I  asked  myself.  '  Here  am  I  suffering 
this  boat  to  be  blown  out  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  when  our 
hopes  of  salvation  lie  over  the  stern.' 

I  said  to  Miss  Grant,  'Please  catch  hold  of  this  tiller — BO. 
Hold  it  steady  as  you  have  it,  straight  fore  and  aft,  that  you 
may  keep  the  boat  dead  before  the  wind.' 

She  did  as  I  bade  her.  I  sprang  forward,  unstepped  the  mast, 


304  MAROONED 

and  taking  the  two  paddles,  bound  the  three  together  securely 
by  the  halliards.  This  done,  I  secured  the  bundle  to  the  ena 
or  the  coir  rope  that  lay  coiled  down  in  the  bows.  I  then  called 
to  the  girl  to  put  the  helm  over,  motioning  to  her  that  she 
might  know  which  way  to  thrust  the  tiller,  and  the  instant  the 
little  craft  came  broadside  to  the  sea,  I  flung  the  bundle  of  mast 
and  paddles  overboard,  then  floundered  aft,  moving  as  low  as  I 
could  in  the  boat,  scarce  knowing  whether  the  next  minute 
would  not  find  us  drowning.  It  was  a  necessary  but  a  most 
dangerous  manreuvre  in  that  sea.  She  rounded  quickly  head 
on  to  the  pull  of  that  rope ;  but  ere  the  drag  of  her  could 
tauten  the  line  she  hung  a  breathless  moment  or  two  in  the 
trough,  with  the  sea  like  a  dark  wall  to  windward  rearing  its 
head  to  the  height  of  my  own  stature,  flickering  duskily  against 
the  crimson  in  the  west,  and  I  could  not  fetch  a  sigh,  so  sure 
was  I  that  the  sweeping  volume  would  tumble  sheer  over  us. 
But  the  broad-beamed  little  structure  went  floating  up  it 
broadside  on,  with  her  keel  at  right  angles,  whilst  I  gripped 
the  gunwale  with  one  hand,  my  right  arm  encircling  Aliss 
Grant  to  save  her  from  sliding  into  the  water  to  leeward — and 
this  without  shipping  more  water  than  a  small  thunder-shower 
of  spray  blowing  over  us  off  the  brow  of  the  surge  as  we 
mounted  it.  Then  as  the  boat  swept  into  the  hollow  behind, 
she  tautened  the  rope  and  whipped  her  nose  round  to  the  sea, 
and  so  lay  rising  and  falling,  heavily  indeed  but  comparatively 
safely,  behind  the  breakwater  of  the  mast  and  oars  to  which 
she  rode. 

'  It  was  the  only  thing  I  could  think  of  to  do,'  I  cried.  '  Thank 
God  it  is  done,  and  well  done.  You  have  a  magnificent  nerve, 
Miss  Grant.  For  my  part  I  thought  it  was  all  over  with  us, 
and  was  too  frightened  to  bawl  out? 

*  We  are  safer  like  this  than  with  the  sail  set  1 '  she  said. 

'Yes,'  I  exclaimed ; '  we  shall  be  able  to  make  something  like 
good  weather  of  it  now,  even  should  the  breeze  freshen.  I  ought 
to  have  thought  of  this  old-world  nautical  stratagem  long  before 
it  grew  perilous  to  practise  it.' 

It  seemed  to  be  blowing  as  hard  again  now  that  we  faced  it. 
Our  running  before  the  wind  had  taken  half  the  spite  out  of  it, 
and  it  was  almost  like  the  change  from  a  pleasant  breeze  to  a 
sharp  gale  to  feel  the  hurl  of  the  damp  wind  rushing  down 
upon  us,  spray-laden,  from  every  liquid  acclivity  we  rose  to.  I 
dropped  on  my  knees  and  baled  till  I  cleared  the  boat.  The 
sun  was  gone,  but  the  scarlet  of  his  setting  flooded  the  sky  to 
the  zenith,  and  went  down  in  rusty  red  to  the  opposite  sea-line 
from  which  the  sail  I  had  spied  had  disappeared!  The  clouds 
rising  out  of  the  western  horizon  were  darkening  to  the  fading 
illumination,  and  the  seaboard  that  way  looked  as  though  it 
reflected  the  lustre  of  some  mighty  conflagration,  with  smoke 
in  volumes  pouring  from  it.  The  ocean  turned  green  as  the 
North  Sea  in  winter,  with  a  hardening  of  the  shape  and  outline 


RESCUED  305 

of  every  running  ridge,  and  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  long  tracts 
of  snow-like  froth  upon  it  rendered  its  aspect  so  indescribably 
bleak,  chill,  desolate,  that  the  sparkling  stagnation  of  yesterday 
seemed  as  a  dream,  and  it  defied  the  imagination  to  realize  that 
this  melancholy  picture  of  froth  and  warring  waters  was  looked 
down  upon  by  the  heaven  of  the  Antilles.  But  the  boat  rode 
well  and  buoyantly,  and  how  the  breakwater  helped  her  you 
saw  by  the  savage  leap  of  the  froth  against  it ;  though  it  was 
smothered  again  and  again,  yet  it  made  a  sort  of  '  smooth,'  as 
sailors  say,  for  our  keel,  and  the  prospect  of  the  night  was  no 
longer  unendurable  to  me.  Before  the  darkness  fell  I  got  some 
fruit  and  turtle  out  of  the  locker.  Miss  Grant  shook  her  head, 
"but  I  insisted,  and  then  she  ate  a  few  mouthfuls,  but  merely  to 
please  me,  as  I  could  see.  Happily  we  had  a  drop  of  rum  with 
us,  and  I  persuaded  her  to  take  a  small  draught,  and  afterwards 
I  carefully  wrapped  the  rug  round  her,  and  made  her  as  snug 
as  the  horrible  plight  we  were  in  would  permit. 


CHAPTER 

BESOTTED 

THE  wind  fortunately  did  not  increase  when  the  darkness 
fell,  but  the  gloom  of  the  night  gave  so  stormy  an  aspect  to  the 
ocean  that  you  would  have  thought  it  blew  as  hard  again  as  it 
did.  I  cannot  express  how  dismal  was  the  appearance  of  the 
weltering  liquid  blackness  in  whose  heart  our  tiny  ark  laboured, 
one  moment  flung  to  the  sight  of  the  stars,  the  next  plunged 
into  the  momentary  stagnation  and  midnight  of  the  Atlantic 
trough,  with  long  dashes  of  pale  foam  heaving  like  great  wind- 
ing-sheets all  about  us,  and  the  slender  moon  leaping  with  a 
troubled  silver  face  from  the  rims  of  the  flying  clouds,  to 
render  the  picture  ghastly  with  the  cold,  death-like  complexion 
of  her  light.  There  was  to  be  no  couch  for  Miss  Grant  at  the 
bottom  of  the  boat.  The  fabric  rode  well,  and  took  but  very 
little  water  over  the  bows,  but  the  wet  came  in  fast  through  the 
showering  of  the  spray  off  the  seas  curling  into  foam  ahead  of 
us,  and  obliged  me  again  and  again  to  bale,  though  it  occupied 
but  a  very  little  while  to  free  us. 

My  companion  sat  beside  me  in  the  stern-sheets,  to  which 
place  indeed  I  had  transported  most  of  our  little  cargo  of  fruit, 
water,  and  the  like,  that  the  combined  weight  aft  might  give 
the  boat's  nose  a  good  cock-up  for  the  run  of  the  surge.  Happily, 
though  it  all  looked  chill  as  a  wintry  Channel  scene,  the  wind 
blew  warm,  wet  as  it  was,  and  the  water  was  warm  too  with 
the  first  touch  of  it,  though,  to  be  sure,  if  you  let  it  lie  long 
trickling  upon  your  face  the  breeze  made  it  frosty.  There 
was  a  great  deal  of  fire  in  the  sea ;  a  constant  sparkling  of 
pallid  flames  flashing  like  summer  sheet-lightning  as  they  rose 

X 


806  MAROONED 

incandescent  against  the  sweep  of  blackness  over  the  horizon 
where  the  night  lay  deepest.  Conversation  was  out  of  the 
question.  The  roaring  of  the  near  seas  drowned  our  voices.  To 
render  ourselves  audible  we  had  to  put  our  lips  to  each  other's 
ear,  sheltering  our  mouths  even  then  with  the  hand  against 
the  blast,  that  would  otherwise  have  clipped  our  words  away  as 
you'd  snick  the  twig  from  a  bough  with  a  pair  of  shears.  I  saw 
that  the  night  was  to  be  a  fearfully  trying  one  for  us  both. 
My  own  attention  was  kept  so  much  on  the  strain  by  observing 
the  plunges  of  the  boat,  and  watching  the  seas  rolling  at  and 
past  us,  that  I  protest  my  very  soul  ached  as  if  it  were  some 
physical  faculty  in  me.  Our  misery,  too,  was  increased  by  the 
obligation  to  keep  seated.  In  calm  water,  as  you  have  seen,  we 
moved  about  ana  eased  our  cramped  limbs  by  passing  to  the 
end  of  the  little  craft,  or  standing  ;  but  now  we  durst  not  stir, 
not  only  for  fear  of  throwing  the  boat  out  of  trim,  but  lest  we 
should  be  flung  overboard  by  one  of  her  many  extravagantly 
wild  leaps. 

Thus  passed  the  time.  I  occupied  my  mind  by  considering 
what  we  should  do  on  the  morrow,  if  the  dawn  found  us  alive 
and  the  weather  moderated.  The  one  ship  we  had  seen  at  sun- 
down made  me  hope  that  others  might  show  next  day,  but  I 
could  not  forget  that  we  made  but  a  minute  speck  on  this 
mighty  surface,  invisible  at  a  very  short  distance  away,  and 
that  our  chance  of  being  picked  up  must  lie  in  a  vessel  passing 
close  to  us. 

Whilst  I  thus  sat  pondering,  with  my  heart  so  heavy  in  me 
that  I  could  not  have  felt  more  melancholy  had  I  been  sure  that 
the  sun  was  never  again  to  rise  for  us,  I  felt  the  pressure  of 
Miss  Grant's  form  against  mine,  and  bringing  my  eyes  close  to 
her  face  I  saw  that  she  was  asleep.  I  passed  my  arm  round  her 
that  she  might  have  the  support  of  it,  and  yielded  so  as  to  bring 
her  head  to  my  shoulder,  as  she  had  mine  on  the  previous  night ; 
and  thus  she  lay  worn  out  in  a  deep  sleep,  breathing  regularly. 
The  moon  sliding  into  some  indigo  opening  at  times  would  shed 
its  light  upon  us,  by  which  I  could  see  Miss  Grant's  face  as  it 
lay  pillowed  close  to  mine  in  the  hood  with  which  she  had 
replaced  her  hat.  It  was  a  radiance  to  spiritualize  her  beauty. 
How  passionately  my  heart  had  gone  to  hers,  how  deep  was  my 
love,  I  never  could  have  guessed  so  truly  as  now,  when  her 
beauty  was  close  to  my  lips,  and  she  lay  at  peace  against  my 
breast  amidst  this  thunder  of  warring  surge,  this  long  howling 
of  the  ocean  night  wind,  this  convulsive  tossing  of  our  little 
boat.  Murder !  what  a  passion  is  this  same  love  that  it  should 
triumph  over  such  a  time  as  that ;  dominating  every  consider- 
ation of  the  horrors  of  our  situation,  and  forcing  my  spirit  to 
secretly  whisper  to  itself,  that  in  this  delight  of  slumberous 
embrace — for  an  embrace  it  was  in  its  way,  with  her  head  upon 
my  shoulder,  her  form  against  mine,  and  my  arm  clasping  ner 
to  me— there  was  solace  enough  for  as  many  days  of  thus  sort  of 


RESCUED  807 

thing  as  might  go  to  a  month  of  Sundays!  I'd  often  fancy 
that  the  poets  mightily  exaggerated  when  handling  the  subject 
of  love,  as  though  the  world's  main  occupation  lay  in  thinking 
of  that,  and  nothing  else ;  but  I  now  know  better.  Indeed,  I 
have  only  to  think  of  that  night  to  know  better.  Alongside 
this  passion,  the  passion  of  life  itself  is  a  feeble  sentiment.  Deatli 
seemed  to  have  no  terrors  for  me  whilst  I  held  that  girl  to  my 
heart.  The  grim  feature  grinned  in  every  black  trough  to  the 
glare  of  the  graveyard  lights  scintillating  in  each  ebon  steep, 
but  I  was  without  fear ;  I  was  tranquil,  at  peace,  even  happy. 
But  I  must  own  not  for  very  long. 

For  an  hour,  perhaps,  my  enjoyment  lasted,  whilst  I  sat 
.snatching  at  every  opportunity  which  the  glance  of  the  moon 
would  give  me  to  look  at  her  as  she  slept,  sorely  tempted 
indeed  at  moments  to  touch  her  lips,  whose  nearness  made  the 
black,  damp  gale  aromatic  to  me,  only  that  my  alarmed  honour 
would  spring  to  the  succour  of  my  manhood,  and  transform  my 
desire  into  a  vein  of  self- reproachful  musing  for  which  I  thanked 
my  good  angel ;  for  I  VOAV  to  Heaven  that  I  never  afterwards 
could  have  forgiven  myself  the  lightest  act  of  disloyalty  to  the 
noble  faith  this  woman  had  in  me.  For  an  hour,  I  say ;  at  the 
expiration  of  which  time  my  eye  was  suddenly  taken  by  a  pale 
shadow  a  trifle  on  the  starboard  bow  of  the  boat.  It  came  and 
went  with  our  tossing.  I  sent  a  careless  glance  at  it  at  first, 
for  it  had  the  look  of  a  small  cloud,  or  some  white  boiling  of 
water,  like  to  the  many  scattered  all  around,  that  seemed 
to  glare  out  in  ivory  heaps  to  the  touch  of  the  moonbeams; 
but  it  hung  steadily  and  grew  rapidly,  enlarging  out  of  the 
western  darkness  with  a  steadfast  spectral  sheen  that  presently 
assured  me  it  must  be  the  canvas  of  a  ship.  The  involuntary 
start  I  gave  awoke  Miss  Grant.  She  sat  up,  unconscious  of  the 
posture  her  sleep  had  taken,  and  I  withdrew  my  arm  from  her 
waist 

I  pointed  whilst  I  put  my  mouth  to  her  ear,  and  cried  out. 
•A  ship!' 

The  mere  sound  of  the  word  instantly  brought  her  to  her 
full  senses.  She  exclaimed,  '  She  will  not  be  able  to  see  us  I 
Can  we  not  signal  ?  Can  we  not  show  a  light  ? ' 

Alas !  I  had  no  means  of  making  a  flare.  Swiftly  I  over- 
hauled the  contents  of  the  boat  mentally,  but  there  was  nothing 
in  her  that  would  burn.  The  shawls,  the  rugs  which,  wetted 
with  the  drop  of  spirits  we  possessed,  might  yesterday  have 
been  kindled  into  a  flame,  were  now  saturated  with  the  flying 
spray.  Moreover,  the  vessel  was  approaching  us  too  rapidly 
to  have  enabled  me  to  act,  even  had  an  opportunity  for  doing 
so  offered.  It  was  very  soon  after  I  had  sighted  her  that  she 
had  shaped  out  to  the  proportions  of  a  large  vessel  of  eight 
hundred  tons  at  least,  running  under  a  press,  all  three  royals 
set  indeed  ;  for  what  was  half  »  gale  of  wind  to  us  down  here, 
lying  in  the  eye  of  it  and  receiving  its  full  pressure,  would  be 

X  3 


303  MAROONED 

but  a  pleasant  breeze  to  yonder  tall  craft,  who,  by  giving  it  her 
stern,  took  most  of  the  spite  out  of  it.  But  my  agony  of  annoy- 
ance at  being  unable  to  signal  her  vanished  on  a  sudden  to  the 
horror  which  her  approach  excited,  for  as  her  hull  stole  out 
black  against  the  clusk  beyond,  blacker  yet  under  the  pile  of 
glimmering  cloths,  with  a  faltering  streak  of  a  white  line  broken 
by  ports  running  along  it,  it  looked  to  me  as  though  she  were 
heading  dead  for  us,  and  that  in  a  few  minutes  the  thunder- 
cloud of  her  shadow  would  be  upon  the  boat. 

I  sprang  to  my  feet,  in  my  anguish  sending  a  wild  yell 
against  the  gale  to  her,  but  was  immediately  flung  down  again 
by  the  jump  of  the  boat.  I  again  staggerea  up,  but  only  to  fall 
atresh,  this  time  fetching  myself  a  thump  that  had  like  to  have 
broken  my  back.  All  the  misery  of  our  adventures  boiled 
down  into  one  instant  of  time  could  not  have  approached  the 
torment  of  feeling  with  which  I  watched,  breathless,  helpless, 
mute  as  a  corpse,  the  drawing  down  upon  us  of  that  great  fabric, 
storming  under  cloths  that,  from  the  low  point  at  which  we 
surveyed  them,  seemed  to  sweep  the  very  clouds  that  rolled 
onwards  with  her  speeding  trucks.  The  wind  so  drove  her  that 
she  heaped  the  foam  to  near  the  height  of  her  spritsail-yard, 
and  the  raging  sound  of  the  parted  water  there,  along  with  the 
hissing  of  the  acre  of  white  smothering  spume  which  she  sent 
in  thunder  ahead  of  her  with  every  stately  stoop  of  her  bows, 
swept  a  noise  along  that  rose  high  above  the  crying  of  the  wind 
and  the  clash  of  colliding  surges,  even  when  she  was  many  times 
her  own  length  distant  from  us.  It  was  impossible  to  suppose 
that  the  mere  black  dot  we  made  upon  the  tumbling  waves  was 
visible  to  her  people,  but  it  did  so  happen  that  when  she  was 
not  above  two  or  three  hundred  fathoms  away  from  us  her  head 
drew  a  point  out,  and  a  minute  or  two  afterwards  she  was  rush- 
ing past  us  close,  with  ourselves  becalmed  for  an  instant  in  the 
hang  of  her  shadow  as  it  were  betwixt  us  and  the  wind,  till  we 
rose  high  to  the  shriek  of  the  gale  again  on  the  breaker-like  curl 
of  sea  that  swelled  in  a  long  coil  from  her  cutwater,  flashing 
into  a  snow-storm  when  abreast  of  the  gangway. 

Terror  had  constricted  my  throat ;  I  could  not  find  my  voice. 
The  mere  effort  to  shout^  wrenched  jme  as  though  some  hand 
were  upon  my  heart  striving  to  tear  it  from  my  breast.  I  could 
see  no  light  along  her  until  she  gave  us  her  stern,  when  there 
shone  out  some  squares  of  illuminated  windows  with  a  gleam  of 
gilt-work  writhing  round  about  them,  and  the  wake  rising 
hump-backed  from  the  blackness  under  the  counter  to  the  stare 
of  the  lights  above,  as  though  it  found  its  milkiness  in  their 
lustre.  She  had  the  look  of  a  frigate,  and  may  have  been  one 
for  all  I  could  tell,  though  more  likely  she  was  some  fine  West 
Jndiaman,  well  to  the  westwards  for  the  usual  course  of  such 
craft  bound  home.  As  she  had  risen  as  a  cloud,  so  did  she 
vanish  like  one ;  her  squares  of  canvas  paling  to  the  moon,  then 
darkening  to  the  brief  eclipse,  then  brightening  out  afresh  into 


RESCUED  $09 

visionary  fragility,  till  the  stars  were  trembling  once  more  where 
her  stately,  rolling  spread  of  cloths  had  hidden  them,  and  the 
sea  went  frothing  to  the  mere  smudge  she  made  in  the  desolate, 
windy,  distant  dusk. 

Miss  Grant  took  my  hand  and  held  it,  crying  to  me,  'God 
watches  over  us,  Mr.  Musgrave.  To-morrow  will  bring  us 
help,  I'm  sure.' 

But  the  agony  of  expectation  I  had  endured,  the  reaction 
follo\ying  the  horrible  suspense  caused  by  that  ship's  approach, 
the  bitter  grief,  the  wild  feelings  excited  by  her  blind,  thunder- 
ous rush  past  us,  had  done  their  work  with  me,  and  I  could  not 
have  answered  the  girl  to  have  saved  my  life. 

It  was  shortly  before  two  in  the  morning,  as  I  might  guess  by 
€he  passage  of  the  stars,  that  the  wind  slackened,  shifted  into 
the  south-west,  and  hung  there  a  soft  and  pleasant  breeze,  with 
a  thinning  away  of  the  clouds,  a  brighter  glory  of  starlight,  a 
more  diamond-like  edge  to  the  curl  of  the  moon  now  sailing 
low,  and  a  spreading  out  of  the  sea  into  a  large,  round  s  Tell, 
the  sleepy  cradling  of  which  was  like  a  benediction  to  the  senses 
after  the  sharp,  snarling  curses  of  the  surges  which  had  been 
racking  our  bones  and  bewildering  our  brains  for  hours.  We 
sat  talking  awhile,  but  my  companion's  voice  was  broken  by 
weariness,  and  presently  she  made  no  answer  to  some  question 
I  put,  ana  on  looking  at  her  I  saw  that  she  had  fallen  asleep.  I 
supported  her  as  before,  but  it  was  not  long  ere  I  was  nodding 
too.  Her  soft  and  regular  respiration  was  an  invitation  to 
slumber ;  the  rhythmic  swing  of  the  boat  too  was  poppy-like  in 
its  influence.  Af y  eyelids  turned  into  lead,  my  chin  sunk  upon 
my  breast. 

I  was  startled  by  a  voice  hailing  me.  It  aroused  me  from  a 
nightmare,  and  I  woke  in  a  fright.  It  was  daylight,  so  I  must 
have  slept  for  an  hour  and  a  half. 

'Boat  ahoy  I' 

I  started  to  the  cry  that  came  ringing  harsh  and  loud  close 
aboard,  and  Miss  Grant  opened  her  eyes  and  sat  erect,  with  an 
exclamation  of  astonishment,  and  a  lifting  up  of  the  hands  as 
though  to  fend  off  some  phantasmal  object.  The  sun  was  just 
rising,  and  his  first  beam  like  a  li  nng  lance  of  light  came  hurling 
along  the  swelling  surface  of  the  waters,  which  brightened  out 
to  the  stretching  of  that  magic  wand  of  glory  into  dainty 
turquoise  even  as  you  looked. 

'  Boat  ahoy,  I  sav ! ' 

I  turned,  and  then  sprang  to  my  feet  with  a  shout  of  joy. 
Close  astern  of  us,  within  toss  of  a  biscuit,  lay  a  little  fore-and-affc 
schooner,  with  her  canvas  shaking  to  the  light  south-westerly 
wind,  into  the  very  eye  of  which  her  jib-boom  pointed.  She  was 
a  craft  of  some  twenty-five  tons,  painted  black,  sitting  low  on 
the  water,  a  beautiful  model  to  the  eye,  schooner-rigged  as  I 
have  said,  her  canvas  old  and  grimy,  and  liberally  patched,  her 
masts  badly  stayed,  the  standing  ngging  gray  for  want  of  tar. 


ilO  MAROONED 

A  fellow  in  a  red  shirt  and  a  blue  cap,  like  a  French  Bmacksman%, 
leaned  with  his  bare  amis  upon  the  rail,  staring  at  us  with  * 
face  of  a  dark  yellow.  Over  the  forecastle  bulwarks  were  the 
heads  of  four  negroes  attired  in  bright  colours,  and  another 
negro  stood  at  the  long  slender  tiller  that  swayed  in  his  hand, 
whilst  he  gazed  at  us  with  his  mouth  open  behind  the  yellow- 
faced  man.  All  these  details  were  swept  upon  my  mind  with 
photographic  swiftness  and  fidelity. 

I  cried  out, '  For  God's  sake,  take  us  on  board.  You  shall  be 
handsomely  repaid  for  any  trouble  we  give  you.  We  have  out- 
lived a  terrible  night,  and  are  in  the  greatest  distress,  and  must 
perish  if  you  do  not  receive  us.' 

'  Can  yah  manage  to  scull  dah  boat  'longside,  d'yah  tink  ? ' 

'  Oh  yes ! '  I  cried, '  oh  yes ! ' 

I  whipped  out  my  knife,  sprang  forward  deliriously,  dragged 
at  the  sea-anchor,  hauled  it  streaming  into  the  boat,  severed 
the  ligatures,  and  seizing  a  paddle  floundered  aft  with  it,  and 
fell  to  sculling  the  boat  towards  the  schooner.  Once  a  horrible 
swooning  feeling  seized  me,  and  I  was  forced  to  pause  to  rally 
my  senses,  on  which  the  yellow  man  bawled  out,  'Look  out  for 
dis  yeerie  line,'  and  hove  a  coil  of  rope  into  the  boat,  which 
Miss  Grant  caught,  and  we  were  dragged  alongside.  I  thrust 
my  companion's  parcel  of  letters  and  jewellery  into  my  pocket, 
and  helped  her  up  the  side.  But  the  moment  we  gained  the 
deck  the  brave  and  beautiful  girl  broke  down.  She  hid  her 
face  and  sobbed  bitterly.  Her  emotion  was  tonical  as  an  obli- 
gation upon  me  to  bear  up,  otherwise  I  believe  I  should  have 
given  way  as  weakly  as  any  woman,  so  true  it  is  that  sudden 
joys,  like  griefs,  confound  at  first.  I  drew  her  gently  to  the  side, 
longing  to  soothe  her  with  a  lover's  caress,  though  I  started  to 
the  mere  fancy  of  such  a  thing,  and  half  turned  from  her,  for 
now  that  we  stood  upon  a  vessel's  deck  again  she  seemed  to 
slip  magically  back  to  the  old  bearings  she  had  aboard  the  Iron 
Crown.  It  was  the  mere  sensitiveness  in  my  humour  then,  no 
doubt,  but  I  felt  it  as  a  sudden  chill  at  my  heart,  that  my  lovely 
associate  on.  the  island,  my  patient,  tender,  heroic  companion 
of  the  boat,  had  changed  into  Miss  Aurelia  Grant  merely,  the 
young  lady  whom  I  was  escorting  to  Rio  to  oblige  my  cousin, 
who  woukf  marry  her  on  her  arrival. 

She  looked  at  me  through  her  tears,  smiling. 

'What  would  yah  like  done  wid  dis  yeerie  boat,  sah?'  ex- 
claimed the  yellow-faced  man. 

'Get  her  aboard,  if  you  please,'  said  I,  'or  take  her  in  tow,  or 
cast  her  adrift.  She's  of  no  use  to  us  now,  thank  God.' 

'Them  rugs  is  yourn,  I  reckon  ?'  said  the  man. 

'Yes,' I  answered;  'I  shall  be  glad  to  have  them.  We  may 
need  them  here.' 

He  took  a  look  at  the  boat,  and  then  ran  his  eye  along  the  little 
schooner's  deck  in  a  sort  of  calculating  way,  and  exclaimed, 
"Tain't  good  enough  to  send  do  likes  of  her  adrift.  Dere's 


RESCUED  811 

room  yeerie,  I  guess.  Hi  I  Toby,  Hebenezer,  Jupiter,  lay  aft, 
you  tree  dam  niggers^  and  git  dis  boat  inboards.  Daddy,  jump 
tor  dah  luff-tackle ;  jump,  mah  Hafrican.  and  stop  scratching 
your  head.  Quick  an'  lively's  dah  word  all  roun'  now.' 

He  clapped  his  hands,  and  fell  to  cutting  several  queer  capers, 
as  though  striving  to  work  himself  up  into  a  state  of  excite- 
ment, perhaps  with  a  notion  of  putting  life  into  his  niggers. 
Indeed,  he  was  the  oddest  figure  that  could  be  imagined.  His 
nose  was  that  of  the  negro,  and  his  mouth  so  twisted,  whether 
by  disease  or  disaster,  that  the  left-hand  corner  of  it  was  on  a 
line  with  his  right  nostril,  whilst  the  rest  of  it  went  up  into  his 
cheek  in  the  shape  of  the  paring  of  a  fin'ger-nnil.  One  eye  was 
iarger  than  the  other,  the  dusk  of  them  indicating  African 
blood.  His  beauty  was  further  improved  by  a  strange  growth 
of  short  black  hair  upon  his  chin,  every  fibre  as  wide  apart  as 
the  teeth  of  a  comb,  and  as  coarse  as  the  bristles  of  a  hog. 
There  was  the  negro  twang  in  his  voice,  and  he  seemed  in- 
capable of  speaking  without  hallooing.  He  wore,  in  addition 
to  the  cap  and  shirt  I  have  already  named,  a  pair  of  dirty 
duck  trousers  which  ran  flowing  to  his  naked  yellow  feet ;  but 
grotesquely  ugly  as  he  was — and  the  more  so  for  the  contrast 
of  his  twisted,  guinea-coloured  face  betwixt  his  old  blue  cap 
and  faded  red  shirt — he  could  not  have  been  more  beautiful  in 
my  sight  then  had  he  been  one  of  those  dewy,  ambrosial,  lovely 
spirits  who,  in  Paradise  Lost,  with  flaming  lances  keep  the  devil 
at  a  respectful  distance  from  Adam  and  his  wife  asleep. 

All  was  now  bustle ;  the  negroes  walloped  about,  tumbling 
into  the  boat,  bawling  out  like  school-boys  at  play,  making  the 
craft  we  had  vacated  splash  to  their  tumblefication  as  though 
they  would  capsize  her.  Suddenly  the  yellow-faced  man,  who 
was  looking  at  them  over  the  rail,  roared  out, '  Hallo  !  What 
you  do,  hey,  you  black  teeves  ?  What !  you  steal  my  goods, 
hein !  Tunder  and  flames  1  I  gib  you  someting  proper  to  eat, 
my  dickey-birds.  Stop  now ! '  with  which  he  plumped  right 
into  the  boat,  jumping  as  though  he  meant  to  go  clean  through 
her.  I  looked  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  and  observed  all 
three  negroes  with  their  mouths  full ;  one  with  a  lump  of  turtle 
in  his  hand,  another  with  a  craw-fish,  a  third  with  a  bunch  of 
bananas.  Their  greedy  gobbling  was  like  to  choke  them. 
Apparently  they  meant  to  stow  a  good  cargo  away  before  they 
could  be  stopped.  The  instant,  however,  the  yellow-faced  man 
was  in  the  boat  he  let  drive  with  his  head  at  the  stomach  of  the 
negro  nearest  him.  who  fell  with  a  crash  as  if  shot ;  but  the 
other  two  showed  fight,  poising  their  heads  in  a  butting  posture 
and  awaiting  the  onset  in  that  attitude,  though  they  continued 
to  cram  their  mouths  nevertheless. 

'  Drop  what  yah're  eating,  you  black  teeves  ob  de  world ! ' 
shouted  the  yellow  man,  who  wisely  came  to  a  pause  on  observ- 
ing their  hostile  demeanour.  'Yah  both  hang  for  blasted 
piruto  when  we  gets  to  NJISSOO  !  you  see  now  1  Yes,  yah  both 


312  MAROONED 

swings  for  dis,  high  as  de  highest  tree  dere  is.    Yahll  see  now. 
Drop  it,  I  say.' 

But  by  this  time  the  fellows  had  nothing  left  to  drop  saving 
some  claws  of  a  craw-fish,  which  promptly  fell  from  the  black 
paws  that  held  them,  whilst  the  men  looked  up  at  me  grinning 
from  ear  to  ear.  Amidst  the  utmost  confusion,  the  yellow-faced 
man  remaining  till  the  last  in  the  boat  to  guard  our  poor  remain- 
ing stock  of  provisions,  the  little  craft's  nose  was  got  to  the 
gangway,  the  mock  of  the  luff-tackle  hooked  on  to  the  ringbolt 
in  the  stem,  and  then  all  hands  came  aboard  to  hoist  her  in. 
The  fellow  at  the  helm  left  it  to  help,  and  though  my  emotions 
just  then  leaned  very  little  to  the  side  of  merriment,  I  laughed 
till  I  was  breathless  at  the  contortions  of  the  blacks  as  they 

§ulled  in  company  with  the  yellow  man,  every  dusky  throat 
elivering  a  yell  with  each  drag  on  its  own  account ;  till  all  at 
once,  just  as  the  bows  of  the  boat  were  showing  over  the  side, 
crack !  the  fall  of  the  tackle  parted,  down  tumbled  the  negroes 
in  a  heap,  with  the  yellow  man  on  top  of  them,  where  they 
spurred  and  kicked  at  one  another  like  a  lump  of  spiders  in 
the  bottom  of  a  glass,  filling  the  air  with  execrations  and  shouts, 
whilst  they  rolled  over  and  over  in  an  inextricable  muddle  or 
black  faces,  cucumber  shanks,  red,  yellow,  and  white  headgear, 
and  shirts  that  threatened  to  become  rags  in  a  very  little  while 
if  the  sport  went  on. 

I  looked  for  the  boat  and  found  her  under  water,  floating  with 
just  the  line  of  her  gunwales  above  the  surface,  and  the  rugs, 
shawls,  umbrellas,  and  the  like  quietly  sinking  past  her  in  the 
blue  heave  of  the  swell.  The  yellow  man  scrambled  out  of  the 
twisting  group  with  his  cap  gone  ;  and  now  he  proved  himself 
uglier  than  had  been  at  all  conjecturable  whilst  his  head  was 
covered,  for  he  was  as  bald  as  a  turnip  down  to  the  semi-circle 
where  his  wiry  hair  bushed  out  thick  as  the  frill  of  a  Persian 
cat,  and  as  coarse  as  cocoa-nut  fibre.  In  fact  his  bald  head  showed 
now  like  the  top  of  an  ostrich's  egg  stuck  in  the  hair  of  a  mat- 
tress. He  ran  to  look  at  the  boat,  and  when  he  saw  she  was 
under  water  he  yelled  out, '  Yah  dingy  villains !  Look  at  yah 
work,  yah  black  piggies  ! '  and  in  a  paroxysm  of  rage  stooped  his 
head  and  went  butt  in  afresh  for  the  first  negro  at  hand  ;  but 
Ebenezer,  as  the  black  was  called,  was  too  sharp  for  him  j  he 
sprang  aside,  and  the  yellow  man  drove  head  foremost  against 
the  single  old  pump  that  stood  before  the  mainmast.  The  blow 
that  he  fetched  himself  would  have  lasted  a  white  man  for  a 
lifetime,  but  it  appeared  to  cause  the  fellow  no  further  incon- 
venience than  was  to  be  remedied  by  a  brief  spell  of  rubbing. 
I  was  getting  tired  of  all  this. 

*  Better  get  the  block  unhooked  and  let  the  boat  go,'  said  TL 
*  What  I  want  has  floated  out  of  her,  and  there's  nothing  left  in 
the  locker  that's  worth  the  saving.  Besides,  I  want  to  have  a 
talk  with  you.  You'll  lose  nothing  by  shoving  ahead.' 

'  JUght  yah  are,' he  answered.  J  Jump  now,  some  black  debbil, 


RESCUED  813 

•nd  free  de  block.    Way  loft,  way  loft,  Toby,  and  bring  dot 
tackle  down.' 

He  looked  about  him  for  his  cap,  found  it,  put  it  on  his  head, 
and  came  aft  to  where  Miss  Grant  and  I  had  seated  ourselves 
on  some  small  raised  contrivance  just  abaft  the  rudder-head. 

*  What's  the  name  of  this  schooner  ? '  said  L 
*Dah  Orphan,  sah,'  he  answered. 

*  Where  are  you  bound  to,  may  I  ask  ?' 

4  We're  out  a  wrecking,'  lie  answered.    Then  seeing  I  did  not 
understand,  he  added,  'Dah   Orphans  a  wrecking  craft    dat 
wisits  dah  islands  'way  from  Providence  down  to  Inaguey  and 
dah  Mona  passage,  to  see  what's  to  be  got  'longshore.' 
~  I  understood  him  now,  for  I  had  heard  of  such  vessels. 

4  You  hail  from  Nassau,  I  suppose  ? ' 

4Yaas,'  he  said,  'dat's  my  country,'  inspecting  first  Miss 
Grant  and  then  myself  with  growing  curiosity. 

4 1  may  take  it  you're  captain  here  I ' 

4  Dat's  so,  sah.' 

4 Your  name,  pray?'  said  L 

4Capt'n  Emilius  Jeremiah  Ducrow,'  he  answered,  drawing 
himself  up,  and  speaking  slowly  and  emphatically. 

4  Well,  Captain  Ducrow,'  said  I,  preserving  my  gravity  with 
an  effort  that  was  the  harder  for  the  demureness  I  noticed  in 
Miss  Grant's  face, '  before  I  tell  you  our  story,  let  me  thank  you 
from  the  very  bottom  of  my  heart — and,  of  course,  I  speak  for 
this  lady  as  for  myself — for  your  handsome  and  timely  rescue  of 
us.  God  knows  how  it  must  have  been  with  us  both  had  succour 
been  delayed.  I  can  afford  to  pay  you  for  any  services  you 
may  render  us,  and  I  simply  tell  you  this,  that  you  may  know 
you  and  your  little  ship's  company  will  not  be  losers  by  your 
complying  with  any  request  I  may  make  you.' 

He  kicked  out  with  his  heel  as  he  scraped  a  bow  at  me  and 
said, '  I  see  yah  a  gent.  I  witness  it  troo  dah  accent  of  yah 
language.  Dere's  nebber  no  mistakin'  a  gent.  I  mix  in  fust- 
class  company  ashore  myself,  and  could  tell  perlite  breedin' 
blindfold  by  de  mere  smell  of  him.  Now  den,'  he  roared, 
suddenly  turning  and  looking  forward,  '  get  dat  gangway 
shipped.  Tunder  and  slugs  !  'tain't  dinner-time  yet,  yah  bloom- 
ing shark-fishes,  and  so  I  tells  yah.  Lay  aft  to  dis  helium, 
Moses.  Beg  a  tousand  pardons,  sah,'  he  continued,  rounding 
upon  me  with  another  scrape  and  a  kick  up  behind,  'but 
niggers  is  de  most  excrooshatin'  people  to  manage.  Dey  works 
'pon  your  temper  more  nor  aching  teef,'  saying  which  he 
extended  his  arms,  drooping  his  yellow  hands,  whilst  he  turned 
his  head  from  the  direction  in  which  he  seemed  to  point,  with 
his  face  puckered  up  into  an  expression  of  loathing  which  the 
'  twist  of  his  mouth  rendered  monstrously  ugly  and  comical. 

4 Well,  now,'  said  I,  'I  want  to  tell  you  our  story,  but  before 
I  begin,  I  should  be  glad  to  know  if  there's  anything  to  eat 
aboard  this  little  hooker,' 


314  MAROONED 

*  Oh  yes,  sah  ;  dcre's  eating  to  be  had — middling  coarse,  jest 
sailor's  eating,  sah  ;  not  fit  for  dis  lubberly  lady,'  bowing  low  to 
Miss  Grant, '  but  dah  best  Capt'n  Ducrow  cai>  perwide.' 

'We  have  not  had  bite  nor  sup  since  last  night,'  said  L 
'  What  can  you  give  us  ? ' 

*  Will  yah  hab  it  yeerie  or  in  dah  cabin  ? '  he  inquired. 

'  Here,  said  I,  making  a  shrewd  guess  at  the  temperature  below. 

He  called  to  one  of  the  negroes  and  told  him  to  put  a  pot  of 
chocolate  upon  the  fire,  then  to  lay  aft  with  a  bit  of  cold  salt 
beef,  ship's  biscuits,  plates,  and  the  like;  'And  bear  a  hand, 
mah  humming-bird,'  he  said,  'for  'tain't  dinner-time  yet,  yah 
know.  Now,  sah,'  he  continued,  addressing  me,  assuming  a  tine 
air  of  dignity  in  his  manner,  'whilst  dah  wittles  is  making 
ready  I  shall  be  glad  ob  yah  story.' 

I  at  once  went  to  work  and  related  our  adventures,  and  on 
coming  to  an  end  I  asked  him  if  he  could  give  me  news  of  the 
Iron  Croivn. 

He  answered  no,  he  had  not  heard  of  the  vessel,  but  that  he 
had  learnt  about  a  fortnight  ago,  though  he  could  not  recollect 
the  source  whence  he  had  received  the  intelligence,  that  a  vessel 
bound  to  Porto  Rico  had  been  spoken,  and  reported  that  she  had 
on  board  four  men,  whom  she  had  found  adrift  in  an  open  boat, 
and  that  the  fellows  said  they  had  gone  in  search  of  a  man 
and  lost  their  ship  in  thick  weather ;  '  And  I  believe,  sah,'  said 
Captain  Ducrow,  'dat  dah  name  of  dah  wessel  dey  gave  was 
dah  Iron  Crown;  but  I  wont  swear  to  it,  for  I  ain't  got  no 
memory  worf  speaking  of,  'cept  for  poetry.' 

Here  he  sent  a  languishing  look  at  Miss  Grant. 

*  For  poetry ! '  I  rapped  out.    '  Do  you  know,'  I  exclaimed, 
turning  to  my  companion,  'that  this  looks  uncommonly  like 
as  though  poor  old  Gordon  and  his  men  had  been  picked  up.' 

'  I  hope  so,'  she  answered  ;  '  and  it  seems  so  indeed.  It  will 
diminish  by  so  much  the  horror  of  our  memories  of  the  ship. 
And  four  men  too,  Mr.  Musgra7e  1  That  must  mean  that  the 
poor  cabin-boy  was  recovered.' 

'  Pray,  captain,'  said  I,  '  which  is  the  nearest  port  hereabouts  ; 
xome  civilized  place  of  houses  and  ships,  I  mean,  where  we  may 
be  able  to  put  ourselves  in  the  way  of  getting  to  Bio  ? ' 

He  looked  steadfastly  around  the  horizon  as  though  seeking 
for  information  on  the  gleaming  sea-line,  and  then  gazing  at 
me  with  one  eye  shut  full  of  thought,  he  exclaimed,  'Dere  'D  be 
nuffen  nearer  than  Nassoo.' 

'  And  how  far  off  will  that  be  ? '  said  I, — '  in  the  shape  of  time, 
I  mean.' 

'  Wellj  maybe  a  week,  maybe  a  month.  Dere's  no  predicating 
ob  de  winds.  Perhaps  yah  know  dein  bootiful  lines,  Miss — 

Sometimes  dah  gale  blow  high, 

Ho!  an'  somct'iiies  dah  breeze  blow  tauill ; 
Sometimes  it  lree*)ti  in  a.  sigh, 

An'  sometimes  it  blows  in  a  squall. 

But  hn,  my  lu'i,  and  my  tub.'    Most  often  u!<en  I  pants  to  get  at  yah,  doicn  yetrit  it 
' 


RESCUED  31* 

*  Yon  didn't  happen  to  know  dem  werses  p'r'aps,  Miss  t ' 

Miss  Grant  answered  no,  smiling. 

*  Waal,  I  ask  'cause  dey're  mine.    When  sung  to  dah  accom- 
paniment— ' 

'  Beg  your  pai-don,  Captain  Ducrow,'  said  I,  breaking  in  here, 
'  but  I  want  to  settle  some  plan  with  you,  for  we're  in  a  great 
hurry  to  get  to  Rio,  and  if  you'll  help  us  to  arrive  there  you 
shall  do  so  on  your  own  terras.  What  do  you  advise  now  ? ' 

This  reference  to  his  judgment  flattered  him.  He  drew 
himself  up,  folded  his  arms,  and  cocked  his  eye  thoughtfully  at 
the  sky,  with  the  air  of  a  man  who  recognizes  his  opportunity, 
jind  means  to  make  the  most  of  it. 

'  Tell  yah  what,'  he  suddenly  exclaimed, '  take  mah  advice,  and 
let  me  bowl  yah  to  Havanna.  Dere's  breezes  to  be  trusted  off 
de  Bahama  Bank.' 

'All  right,'  said  L  'Havanna  will  suit  very  well.  And  now 
to  square  the  matter  off  whilst  we're  upon  it — what  about  the 
passage  money  ? ' 

Again  he  struck  an  attitude  with  another  squint  aloft,  then 
fell  to  counting  upon  his  fingers,  as  it  were,  whilst  his  lips  moved. 
He  uttered  a  few  disconnected  syllables.  '  De  grub-^lost  time 
yeerie — nuffen  p'r'aps  'longshore  arter  all ; '  then  bringing  his 
eyes  to  me,  and  staring  a  little  without  speaking,  he  exclaimed, 
'  Say  fifty  dollar  apiece  ? ' 

'  You  shall  have  it,'  said  T,  pulling  out  my  pocket-book,  and 
giving  him  a  sight  of  some  Bank  of  England  noteu  in  it. 

The  negro  now  came  along,  bearing  the  meal  that  had  been 
ordered.  A  small  carpenter  s  bench  was  brought  from  forward, 
a  piece  of  sailcloth  spread  over  it,  and  Miss  Grant  and  I  fell 
to.  The  beef  proved  a  piece  of  corned  buffalo  hump,  and 
speaking  for  myself  it  ate  with  extraordinary  relish  after  our 
three  weeks  of  turtle  and  craw-fish.  Even  out  of  the  flinty 
biscuit  I  could  get  enjoyment,  whilst  the  chocolate  was  as  well 
made  and  as  handsomely  frothed  as  any  I  ever  tasted  ashore. 
The  light  sparkling  breeze,  but  with  the  fire  of  this  torrid  zone 
in  its  breath,  hung  steadily,  crisping  the  large  rounds  of  the 
darkly  blue  swell,  and  sending  the  little  schooner  cleaving 
through  it  in  an  airy,  undulating  sliding  that  was  like  flying,  so 
buoyantly  did  the  keen  clipper  keel  mount  the  swelling  hills,  with 
a  soft  lean  on  their  summits  from  the  hot  blue  gushing  that  woke 
a  note  as  of  a  fountain  at  the  bow,  and  raised  a  sound  alongside 
as  of  the  dim  melody  of  musical  glasses  chiming  afar.  Captain 
Ducrow  stood  by  us  whilst  we  breakfasted.  I  asked  him  to  join 
us  ;  but  he  said  his  own  breakfast  of  tea,  biscuit,  and  molasses 
would  be  coming  along  shortly,  and  he'd  rather  wait.  I  then 
asked  him  if  he  could  tell  me  the  name  and  situation  of  the  island 
we  had  been  marooned  upon. 

'  Waal,'  says  he, '  I've  been  tinking  hard  'pon  dat  berry  que«- 
tion  whilst  yah've  been  feeding,  but  what  island  it  can  be  passes 
my  apprehenshun,  sah.  'Tain't  Watling,  dat's  sartia ;  'tain' t  Hum 


*1«  MAROONED 

nor  Samana.  Your  resemblance  ain't  nuffin  like  him.  Tain't 
Guihaney,  nor  Planas,  nor  Cock  us'  (Caicos,  I  presume).  He 
added,  with  an  air  of  desperation,  *  De  debbil  only  knows  what 
island  it  is.' 

I  was  nearly  telling  him  that  we  had  left  the  most  of  our 
traps  behind  us,  but  on  reflection  I  thought  it  was  best  to  say 
nothing  about  that.  Wherever  the  island  might  be,  it  now 
certainly  lay  out  of  our  course.  Time  must  be  spent  in  seeking 
and  making  it.  and  time  grew  doubly  precious  when  I  cast  my 
eye  at  the  little  companion-hatch,  and  reflected  upon  the  sort 
of  accommodation  that  awaited  us  below,  and  how  for  that,  if  for 
no  other  reason,  we  could  not  be  in  too  great  a  hurry  to  end 
this  trip.  Our  baggage  would  of  course  have  been  serviceable 
to  us,  but  its  recovery  was  not  worth  the  delay  of  a  deviation. 
And  then,  again,  I  believe  the  mere  notion  of  going  to  that 
island  afresh,  lying  off  it,  having  it  in  view  along  with  all  its 
melancholy,  wretched  associations  of  hopelessness  and  priva- 
tions, would  have  grievously  depressed  Miss  Grant,  as  it  must 
certainly  have  affected  me,  even  into  a  superstitious  dread  that 
the  mere  loom  of  it  above  the  sea-line  would  prove  prophetic  of 
further  disasters  to  us. 

When  we  had  finished  breakfast  I  asked  Captain  Ducrow 
what  sort  of  accommodation  he  could  furnish  the  lady  with 
below. 

*  I  can't  praise  him,  I  can't  praise  him,'  he  answered,  with  a 
solemn  shake  of  his  head,  to  which  the  swinging  of  the  tassel 
of  his  cap  imparted  additional  emphasis ;  '  but  yah  shall  see 
him  for  yoursef,  sah,'  with  which  he  led  the  way  to  the  com- 
panion, and  down  the  three  of  us  went.  The  small  skylight  lay 
open,  but  it  was  a  stifling  little  cabin  for  all  that,  about  the 
size  of  a  North  Sea  smack^,  with  a  tiny  room  bulkheaded  out  of 
it,  to  which  Captain  Ducrow  pointed,  exclaiming,  '  Dat's  where 
I  lies,  sah  ;  but  it  is  dah  duty  of  ebery  gent  to  make  room  for 
dah  ladies,' — here  he  scraped  another  convulsive  bow  at  Miss 
Grant, — 'and  if  you  will  hab  dah  grace,  ma'm,  to  hoccupy  him 
till  we  gets  to  Havanna,  he'll  be  all  de  sweeter  for  me  to  use 
again.  Dat's  it.  I  reckon,  and  so,  mam'selle,  he  is  werry  moosh 
at  your  sarvice. 

'Ah,  captain,'  said  I,  'I  see  now  what  a  fine  poet  you  are. 
Upon  my  word,  Miss  Grant,  there's  no  finished  courtier  could  have 
turned  a  neater  speech.' 

The  fellow  grinned  so  exceedingly  with  his  twisted  mouth 
that  you  would  have  thought  the  emotion  of  delight  must  have 
ended  in  the  wringing  of  one  side  of  his  face  clean  off  the  other. 

'It  all  comes  ob  mixing  in  fust-class  company,'  he  said,  in  a 
voice  whose  natural  negro  huskiness  was  thickened  yet  by  excess 
of  gratification.  '  'Tain  t  all  nature  in  this  yeerie  yearth.  Nebber 
knew  a  rale  genteel  man  as  didn't  git  his  polishing  from  dah 
elbows  of  dah  fust-class  crowd  he  shoyes  in  mongst.  Yah  may 
take  it  for  dah  Lord's  trull,  sah — ' 


RESCUED  817 

I  interrupted  him.    'Any  cockroaches  here,  Captain  Ducrow  ?' 

'Waal2  yaas  ;  more'n  one  family,  I'se  afeered.' 

'Nothing  worse,  I  hope?' 

'Nebber  s  nufiin  worse  where  dere's  cockroaches,'  he  said ; '  dah 
cockroach  eats  up  what's  worse.' 

'It's  a  pity,'  said  I  to  Miss  Grant,  'that  your  hammock  went 
overboard.  We  could  have  made  shift  to  swing^  it  in  this  bit  of 
a  room.  However,  you'll  want  a  place  to  sleep  in,  and  we  can't 
do  better  than  accept  Captain  Ducrow's  kind  offer.' 

So  it  was  arranged  that  the  skipper  should  clear  out  his  traps, 
leaving  the  bunk  bare  for  the  reception  of  a  square  of  sailcloth, 
which,  with  a  roll  of  the  same  stuff  for  a  pillow,  would  provide 
my  companion  with  a  clean  couch  at  all  events.  As  for  myself, 
I  told  Ducrow  that  one  of  his  lockers  in  the  cabin  would  supply 
me  with  as  good  a  bed  as  I  needed.  On  my  asking?  him  where 
he  meant  to  sleep,  he  pointed  to  a  hole  in  the  cabin  bulkhead 
forward^  which  I  found  to  be  a  sort  of  bunk-place  like  to  the 
orifices  in  which  the  hardy  smacksmen  aboard  a  certain  type  of 
vessels  stretch  their  weary,  sea-booted  limbs  when  they  turn  in. 
This  being  settled,  we  returned  on  deck,  glad  to  escape  from  the 
stifling  little  cabin. 

The  hours  slipped  by,  the  blue  swell  came  running  out  of  the 
south-west,  witn  the  fresh  but  burning  breeze  flashing  off  the 
heads  of  the  brimming  brine  into  our  patched  and  grimy  spread 
of  cloths,  under  whose  pressure  the  schooner  swept  along  with 
the  subtlety  of  the  shark,  and  with  such  a  whipping  of  her  ill- 
stayed  spars  to  every  jump  as  made  one  look  at  times  to  see 
them  go  overboard.  They  rigged  up  a  sort  of  awning  for  us, 
and  under  it  Miss  Grant  and  I  sat  throughout  the  greater  part 
of  the  day,  talking  much  of  the  perils  we  had  come  through,  of 
our  happy  deliverance,  of  the  honest  prospect  that  had  now 
fairly  opened  upon  us  of  our  arriving  safely  at  Rio,  at  no  very 
distant  date  either ;  with  frequent  interruptions  from  Captain 
Ducrow,  who  would  entertain  us  with  twenty  odd  remarks, 
with  accounts  of  his  wrecking  experiences,  with  inquiries  into 
our  story,  with  several  poetical  quotations  all  of  his  own  manu- 
facture, as  he  protested,  sometimes  quitting  his  lofty  air  to  let 
fly  at  one  of  his  negro  seamen,  or  even  to  chase  him. 

But  in  this  time  I  was  sensible  of  a  change  both  in  myself 
and  in  Miss  Grant.  There  was  a  delicate  suggestion  of  diffidence 
in  her  which  I  could  see  her  struggling  against  in  every  smile 
she  gave  me,  but  which  nevertheless  remained  as  sensible  to  me 
as  the  aroma  of  her  breath,  or  the  spirit  that  shone  brilliant  in 
her  eyes.  Sometimes  I'd  think  it  the  reflection  of  my  own 
bearing;  a  sort  of  reserve  came  upon  me  which  I  could  not 
control,  though  when  I  sought  to  interpret  its  impulse,  I  found 
I  could  but  understand  it  in  part.  There  would  be  sensitiveness 
too  to  increase  suspicion.  I  fancied  that  now  we  were  com- 
paratively safe,  thoughts  of  my  cousin,  sharpened  by  happy 
conviction  that  she  would  soon  be  with  him,  caused  her  to  recur 


818  MAROONED 

to  our  intimacy — perhaps  to  certain  passages  in  our  intimacy— 
with  the  resolution  to  once  again  clearly  define  herself  to  my 
mind  as  Alexander's  sweetheart,  but  as  insensibly  as  her  sweet- 
ness and  gratitude  could  contrive  it,  so  that  nothing  of  pain 
might  be  caused  me  by  this  new  posture  in  her,  or  rather  this 
return  to  an  earlier  manner.  It  was  so  reasonable,  that  I  could 
not  but  think  I  was  right  in  thus  thinking.  Most  honourably 
cautious  as  I  flatter  myself  I  had  been,  glances,  nay  words,  had 
escaped  me  in  the  hurry  of  my  feelings  which  she  would  now 
recall.  I  remember  once  that  afternoon,  when  her  face  was 
turned  away  from  me,  whilst  she  shadowed  her  fair  brow  with 
her  hand  as  she  gazed  out  to  sea — I  remember,  I  say,  looking  at 
her  earnestly,  my  mind  full  of  her,  wondering  what  thoughts 
were  in  her  heart,  striving  with  a  kind  of  passion  in  me  to 
interpret  her  beauty  into  even^  the  feeblest  revelation  that 
might  correspond  with  my  imagination  of  her.  She  was  slow 
in  looking  round,  and  when  she  did  so  I  grew  immediately 
conscious  by  her  manner  that  she  knew  I  had  been  watching 
her.  She  let  her  eyes  dwell  on  mine  a  moment  with  a  softness 
that  was  like  an  appeal ;  then  as  her  glance  fell,  her  lips  were 

Earted  by  a  smile  I  would  have  given  all  I  was  worth  to  know 
ow  to  translate.  I  waited  almost  breathlessly  for  her  to  speak, 
and  still  watching,  I  saw  a  tear  drop  from  her  cheek  to  her 
hand.  She  rose  suddenly  and  went  to  the  rail,  and  stood  there 
a  little  with  her  back  upon  me,  and  when  she  returned  it  was 
with  some  commonplace  remark  about  the  sultry  glimmer  of 
the  air  at  the  junction  of  the  sea  and  sky. 


CHAPTER  XXXHI 

ABOARD    THE    *  ORPHAN' 

OlTR  little  schooner  was  named  the  Orphan.  She  had  indeed 
a  forlorn  and  melancholy  look,  strongly  suggestive  of  friend- 
lessness,  with  a  dampness  besides,  owing  to  her  being  repeatedly 
pumped  out,  that  gave  her  a  tearful  appearance.  Her  beautiful 
lines  would  have  made  me  imagine  that  she  had  been  a  yacht 
in  her  day  but  for  the  homeliness  of  her  fittings.  She  leaked 
considerably,  and  the  negro  who  acted  as  mate  aboard  her 
told  me  her  timber  was  so  rotten  forward  that  you  could  dig 
cubes  of  dry-rot  out  of  the  knees  and  carlings  as  easily  as  you 
cut  a  cheese.  Her  aspect  of  decayed  gentility  was  quite  moving 
in  its  way.  You  witnessed  the  good  blood  in  her,  which  per- 
haps rendered  her  uncared-for  condition  the  more  affecting. 
But  she  was  an  orphan  that  did  not  keep  her  woes  to  herself. 
There  was  not  a  tree-nail  in  her  but  complained,  not  a  fasten- 
ing nor  bulkhead  but  mingled  its  groans  with  the  lamentations 
which  broke  out  from  all  parts  of  the  little  fabric.  The  very 
creak  of  the  rudder  on  its  pintles  had  the  note  of  the  sniff  of 


ABOARD  THE  'ORPHAN'  819 

A  sobbing  man  ;  and  then,  as  one  or  another  of  the  blacks  was 
repeatedly  addressing  himself  to  the  gaunt  old  brake  pump  in 
front  of  the  mainmast,  there  was  constantly  a  choking  sound 
of  water  in  the  air,  with  garglings  of  the  bright  stream  as  it 
sluiced  into  the  sea  through  the  little  holes  in  the  scuppers, 
•which  was  perhaps  the  one  and  final  condition  needful  to  render 
the  lachrymose  air  of  this  ill-clothed,  sun-blistered,  neglected, 
sieve-like  Orphan  completely  effective.  Whether  such  craft 
are  still  afloat  at  the  work  to  which  this  vessel  was  put,  I  do 
not  know.  Perhaps  the  West  Indian  wrecking  business  is 
already  an  old  world  story,  but  in  my  time  a  whole  fleet  of 
small  craft,  sloops,  cutters,  schooners,  and  the  like,  were  em- 
ployed in  the  trade ;  that  is  to  say,  in  hunting  the  many  islands 
in  these  waters  for  wrecks  of  vessels,  and  for  such  commodities 
as  might  have  been  washed  ashore  out  of  them. 

Havanna,  according  to  Captain  Ducrow,  was  within  eight  or 
nine  days'  sail  of  us.  The  outlook  of  the  run,  if  a  run  it  was  to 
prove,  was  not  a  thing  to  trouble  either  Miss  Grant  or  myself 
at  the  first  blush,  coming  as  we  did  fresh  to  this  little  schooner 
from  the  horrors  and  perils  of  an  open  boat  at  sea,  and  from 
three  weeks  of  hopelessness  in  an  island  prison.  But  it  does 
not  take  long  for  the  novelty  of  rescue  to  wear  out.  Before 
darkness  closed  upon  that  first  day  of  our  deliverance  we  had 
ceased  to  marvel  at  our  happy  escape.  We  had  grown  used  to 
thinking  of  it,  and  though  gratitude  was  always  in  our  thoughts, 
there  was  no  longer  the  first  passionate  delight  and  astonish- 
ment rising  at  moments  to  incredulity. 

Hence  when  the  evening  settled  down  hot  as  iron  that  has 
blackened  out  of  its  white  lieat,  along  with  a  fining  down  of  the 
breeze  to  a  mere  sighing  of  air  that  threatened  a  dead  calm 
anon,  Miss  Grant's  and  my  conversation  naturally  went  to  the 
prospect  before  us,  of  the  passage  in  this  stifling,  leaky,  ill- 

Erovisioned  little  schooner  to  Havanna,  that  yet  lay  some 
undreds  of  miles  distant.  The  small  awning  had  been  re- 
moved ;  the  dark  velvet  of  the  heavens  showed  from  sea-line  to 
sea-line  fiery  with  stars.  And  the  moon's  reflection  this  night 
lay  brightly  upon  the  sea.  The  heavy  swell  of  the  morning 
had  flattened  ;  but  there  was  a  light  movement  yet  to  which 
the  schooner  kept  time  with  her  whip-like  spars,  every  sail 
swinging  in  and  out  regularly,  with  draughts  of  dewy  air 
scurrying  cool  to  one's  heated  brows  from  these  fannings.  A 
negro  stood  at  the  helm,  and  when  the  stern  of  the  schooner 
drooped  to  a  hollow,  the  ebony  figure  melted  out  of  sight  into 
the  blackness  of  the  water  beyond,  though  with  the  rise  of  this 
end  of  the  craft  he  would  stand  out  again  in  a  sharp  limning 
against  the  silver  ground  of  the  luminaries.  Captain  Ducrow 
had  gone  below  to  lie  down,  and  we  could  hear  him  snoring  in 
the  cabin,  a  sound  as  persuasive  as  the  heat  as  an  influence  to 
detain  us  on  deck.  The  negro  mate  paced  the  gangway  with 
naked  feet,  soundless  as  the  footfalls  ox  a  cat,  with  an  occasional 


820  MAROONED 

halt  to  equirt  a  stream  of  tobacco-juice  over  the  side. "  At  inter- 
vals a  black  figure  would  come  oozing  out.  as  it  were,  from  the 
deep  shadow  forward  to  the  pump,  the  clank,  clank  of  which 
was  now  a  familiar  sound  in  our  ears,  though  I  recognized  it  as 
a  threat  to  our  repose  when  we  should  come  to  stretch  our- 
selves for  a  little  rest ;  and  you  saw  the  fiery  water  creeping, 
dilating,  fading  upon  the  deck  like  sheets  or  wriggling  glow- 
worms, with  sometimes  a  faint  flash  of  the  sea-glow  upon  the 
swell  of  the  jib,  rounding  to  the  roll  of  the  little  craft  when 
some  sudden  brimming  of  the  swell  broke  into  light  against  the 
bows. 

'I'm  afraid,'  said  I,  'that  this  part  of  our  experiences  will  be 
pretty  nearly  as  tedious  as  our  island  life.' 

'  But  we  are  safe,'  she  answered. 

*I  hope  so,'  said  L  'though  I  could  wish  there  was  less  need 
for  pumping.  But  I  fear  you  will  be  horribly  uncomfortable.' 

*  Oh,  but  after  last  night,  Mr.  Musgrave ! '  she  exclaimed,  in  a 
way  as  though  she  would  tenderly  rebuke  me  for  the  little  show 
of  irritation  and  despondency  in  my  manner  just  now,  quite 
perceptible  to  myself,  though  I  would  or  could  not  cope  with  it. 
You  must  not  tnink  of  me  at  all — of  my  comfort,  I  mean,'  she 
added,  and  then  stopped  suddenly,  as  though  she  wondered  at 
her  own  expression,  immediately  saying,  however, '  The  hardship 
now  is  very  trifling  compared  to  what  we  have  endured.' 

'That's  so  indeed,'  I  exclaimed, '  but  I  shall  be  glad  to  exchange 
this  existence  though,  all  the  same.  Buffalo  beef  and  flinty 
biscuit  are  not  a  fare  upon  which  you  can  long  thrive ;  and  then 
what  a  bedroom  that  is  down-stairs !  I  dread  the  moment  of 
your  going  to  it.  Yet  it  is  absolutely  necessary  you  should  sleep 
under  deck ;  for  observe  how  dark  these  planks  are  already 
with  dew/ 

'  You  will  take  more  cheerful  views  to-morrow,'  she  exclaimed  ; 
1  you  have  suffered  much  in  mind  and  body,  and  for  your  sake, 
not  for  mine,  indeed,  I  could  wish  the  cabin  a  pleasant,  airy  one, 
that  you  might  be  sure  of  a  good  long  night's  rest.  Sleep  is 
what  you  need.' 

*I  am  thinking,'  said  I,  waiving  this  point,  and  continuing  to 
speak  with  a  little  irritation  in  me,  due,  as  I  should  have  known 
by  giving  the  thing  a  thought,  to  my  fancy  of  her  changed 
attitude  towards  me,  along  with  the  peevish,  secret,  jealous  dis- 
like of  the  obligation  of  conveying  her  to  my  cousin,  of  losing 
her  then,  of  quitting  her,  consumed  by  a  passion  which  I  was 
young  enough,  to  imagine  neither  time  nor  distance  could 
possibly  cool, — *  I  am  thinking,'  said  I,  'that  if  we  were  to  come 
across  a  good,  comfortable,  roomy  craft,  it  would  be  as  well  for 
us  to  transship  ourselves  without  regard  to  her  destination.' 

'  I  will  do  whatever  you  wish,'  she  said,  simply. 

'  Only,'  said  I, '  suppose  she  should  be  bound  to  a  European 
port!' 

She  seemed  to  be  sunk  in  reflection. 


ABOARD  THE  •  ORPHAN'  821 

'It  would  be  rather  a  blow  perhaps,'  I  continued,  feeling  a, 
bit  cynical  as  I  progressed  in  this  talk, '  to  be  borne  off  to 
England  or  to  France  or  to  Spain  even,  or  say  North  America — ' 

She  interrupted  me :  *  The  ship  might  be  going  the  other  way  : 
she  might  be  sailing  to  the  East  Indies  perhaps,  or  to  Australia. 

*  Oh,  cried  I,  with  a  short  laugh,  'in  that  case  then  of  course 
we  should  stop  where  we  are.    But  suppose  the  vessel  bound  to 
Europe,  would  you  be  willing  to  go  on  board  her  ? ' 

'  If  it  were  your  wish — yes.' 

'But,  Miss  Grant,  so  grave  a  matter  must  not  lie  altogether 
upon  my  shoulders.  Remember  your  sailing  to  Europe  again 
would  greatly  prolong  the  term  of  your  divorce  from  your 
sweetheart.' 

I  could  see  her  smiling  softly  in  the  moonlight,  though  she 
hung  her  head.  'We  may  not  sight  a  ship,'  said  she,  presently. 

'  But  if  we  do.'  said  L  '  shall  we  leave  this  crazy  old  hooker  for 
her?' 

*  Yes,'  she  exclaimed. 

'  Without  regard,'  I  said,  striving  to  steady  my  voice,  though 
my  heart  just  gave  a  flop  that  was  like  to  choke  me, '  to  the  port 
she  is  bound  to  1 ' 

'  Oh  yes,'  she  responded,  with  a  note  of  archness  in  her  voice ; 
'the  captain  would  not  alter  his  course  to  oblige  us,  you  know.' 

'  It  would  only  signify  a  little  further  delay,  said  1,  '  with  the 
comforts  of  civilization  between,  and  that's  what  we  both  want 
now.  Of  course  on  our  arrival,  be  the  place  the  Tagus  or  the 
Thames,  be  it  Boston  or  Marseilles,  I  should  immediately  go  to 
work  to  equip  ourselves  afresh  for  a  second,  and  I  hope  a 
successful,  voyage  to  Rio.' 

'  You  are  very  kind,'  she  answered,  a  little  above  her  breath, 
whilst  I  could  see  her  biting  her  lip  to  another  smile. 

Late  as  it  was,  and  weaned  as  I  was  when  I  saw  her  to  her 
miserable  little  hole  of  a  berth,  I  yet  paced  the  deck  for  above 
an  hour  afterwards  in  as  odd,  unreasonable  a  temper  as  ever 
possessed  me,  full  of  the  agitation  of  fifty  wild  thoughts  all 
rolling  one  to  another  in  as  lively  a  play  as  ever  the  sea  showed 
off  a  harbour,  with  the  water  shoaling  in  spouts  to  the  sweep  of 
the  wind  one  way,  and  a  current  seething  into  it  the  other. 
The  fact  was,  a  resolution  to  keep  Miss  Grant  by  my  side,  no 
matter  what  the  name  of  the  stars  might  be  which  looked  down 
upon  us,  had  been  growing  and  hardening  in  me,  till  I  whipped 
out  with  it  in  the  suggestion  that  it  would  be  good  for  us  both 
to  transship  ourselves  at  the  first  opportunity  that  offered,  no 
matter  where  the  vessel  we  entered  might  be  bound.  I  should 
have  guessed  from  her  manner  all  day  that  such  a  proposal 
must  have  instantly  won  an  eager  anxious  No!  from  her — 
instead  of  which  she  had  promptly  assented,  saying  without 
hesitation  that  she  would  do  as  I  wished ;  and  she  had  made 
nothing  at  all,  as  you  have  seen,  of  my  remark  touching  the 
destination  of  the  ship  we  might  exchange  the  schooner  for. 

Y 


322  MAHOONED 

This  was  a  sort  of  acquiescence,  let  me  tell  you,  to  excite  me  not 
a  little,  when  I  came  to  turn  it  over  during  my  solitary  march 
to  and  fro  the  lightly  swaying  deck,  specially  when  I  coupled 
it  with  what  I  seemed  to  find  in  the  memory  of  her  downcast 
eyes,  her  quiet  smiles,  and  a  something  more  significant  than 
either  in  her  way,  to  use  the  old  phrase,  though  I  could  not  give 
it  a  name. 

This,  to  hark  back  to  the  image  I  have  just  employed,  was 
the  intellectual  gale  that  set  my  thoughts  running  in  surges 
one  way  ;  and  all  would  have  been  an  easy  rhythmic  motion  with 
me,  but  for  the  strong  adverse  tide  of  fancy  which  came  washing 
into  the  run  of  feeling  with  consideration  of  my  cousin's  claims 
upon  me,  my  honour  as  a  gentleman,  my  duty  as  a  man. 
Heaven  save  me ! — in  my  temper  I  could  have  struck  my  foot 
clean  through  the  deck.  I  wanted  her,  I  felt  that  I  must 
possess  her,  that  I  had  a  higher  right  to  her  than  ever  my  cousin 
could  advance ;  and  yet  the  thought  of  the  poor  fellow  stuck 
in  my  throat,  and  I  grew  so  mad  with  the  bother  of  the  whole 
thing,  that  I'd  gladly  have  given  the  darky  who  stood  at  the 
helm  half  a  sovereign  for  liberty  to  kick  him  fore-and-aft  until 
I  was  tired.  After  all,  thought  1,  it  is  for  Miss  Grant  to  decide 
— she  must  settle  it.  If  she  persists  in  making  for  Rio — if,  in 
short,  she'll  have  none  of  me,  though  mightily  obliged,  and  all 
that  sort  of  thing — and  here  my  mood  grew  so  outrageous  that 
it  was  an  exquisite  relief  to  me  to  see  Ducrow's  face,  sallow 
even  to  the  starlight,  fork  up  through  the  companion  with  a 
Hallo,  sah.  Keepm'  mighty  late  hours,  ain't  yah  ?  ' 

'  Oh,  go  to  the  deuce  ! '  I  cried.  '  Look  here,  man,  hark  to  tliat 
now,  bad  luck  to  you ! '  and  as  I  spoke,  the  clank  of  the  old 
brake  pump  recommenced  for  the  fiftieth  time,  it  seemed  to  me, 
that  night.  '  What's  the  good  of  going  to  sea  in  an  old  basket  1 ' 
I  shouted.  'Why,  damme,  _  Ducrow,  don't  you  know  that  a 
dollar's  worth  of  oakum  is  all  that's  needed  to  keep  your 
abominable  old  pump  from  disturbing  the  sleep  of  the  green 
seamen  who  lie  in  shoals  here  under  your  keel  as  you  jog 
along  in  this  weeping  bucket  ? ' 

He  stood  staring  at  me  from  the  companion,  as  though  he 
thought  I  had  gone  mad,  and  small  blame  to  him  for  that ;  then 
approaching  me  cautiously,  he  exclaimed, 

'Berry  good  job,  sah,  I'm  a  man  of  perlite  feelings,  odderwise 
I  might  tomble  into  a  passion,  and  say  someting  to  wound  yah 
sensashuns.' 

'  What  d'ye  mean  1 '  I  cried,  hoping  he  would  fall  into  a  passion, 
as  I  felt  the  need  of  the  relief  of  a  row. 

'Sah,'  he  exclaimed,  drawing  himself  erect,  'a  man  what 
keeps  de  select  company  I  comingles  wid  ashore  am  slow  in 
shocking  dah  feelings  pb  folks.  But  what  I  should  like  to  say 
am — mind  I  don't  say  it — I  merely  intends  dat  what  I  should 
like  to  say  am,  if  yah  ain't  satisfied  wid  dis  little  hooker,  I'm 
worry  mosh  sorry  indeed  yah  ebber  came  aboard  her.  .Pump ! 


ABOARD  THE   'ORPHAN*  323 

continued  the  poor  fellow  in  a  broken  voice  as  though  he  must 
presently  weep,  '  whar's  dah  wessel  what  don't  purnp  ?  Whar*8 
dah  man-ob-war  sloop  dat  don't  pump?  Whars  dan  Indieman. 
as  glorious  as  sunlight  wid  gilt  and  windows  wot  don't  pump  f 
Whar,'  he  continued,  raising  his  voice,  '  is  de  noblest  frigate  ob 
dah  King  of  Yengland  wot  don't  pump?  Whar — '  and  this  he 
delivered  in  a  shriek — 'is  dah  magnificentest  line-ob-battle  ship 
wot  was  yebber  launched  wot  don't  pump  ? ' 

He  plucked  his  cap  from  his  head  and  flung  it  on  deck, 
grasped  the  bush  of  hair  over  either  ear  with  his  hands  as 
though  he  intended  to  tear  out  by  the  roots  what  nature  had 
left  him  in  that  way,  and  then,  swaying  to  and  fro  in  the 
moonlight  like  a  drunken  man,  he  exclaimed  in  a  blubbering 
voice,  '  An'  you  specks  dah  poor  little  Orphan  to  keep  dah  seas 
widout  pumping?' 

Tush  !  thought  I,  I'm  acting  like  a  fool ;  and  moved  by  the 
way  in  which  the  poor  creature  had  received  my  insulting 
language,  I  strode  over  to  him  and  clapped  him  on  the  back. 
*  It's  all  right,'  said  I ;  '  I  don't  feel  very  well  to-night.  Pump 
away  as  briskly  as  you  please,  my  lad,  I'll  not  complain  again. 
I  have  come  through  some  infernal  adventures,  Captain  Ducrow, 
and  though  I  sneer  at  your  little  craft  in  my  ill-temper,  I  am 
grateful  to  Heaven  for  the  privilege  of  feeling  her  under  my  feet.' 

He  unclinched  his  dingy  fingers  out  of  his  hair  and  let  his 
arms  droop  slowly,  whilst  he  looked  at  me  with  his  head  on  one 
side,  with  a  slow  twisting  up  of  his  eye  that  was  in  inimitable 
correspondence  with  the  absurd  cast  of  his  mouth. 

' I  see  how  it  am,  sah/^he  exclaimed  j  'yah  feels  a  bit  low.' 

*  Worn  out  without  being  sleepy,'  said  L 

*  Sorter  hankering  to  be  soothed,  preehaps?' 

'Yes,'  I  answered,  'but  your  cockroaches  won't  help  me  there.' 

*  Tell  yah  what  will  though,'  said  he. 
'What?'  I  asked. 

4  A  little  poetry,'  he  answered.  '  If  yah  11  sit  down  I'll  gib 
yah  as  pretty  a  half-hour  ob  sentiment  as  ebber  yah  could  buy 
for  hard  money  in  dis  yeerie  airth.' 

*  Much  obliged,'  I  answered.     '  Since  I've  been  talking  to  you 
I've  grown  a  bit  sleepy.    After  all,  that  pump  may  be  more 
soothing  as  you  call  it  than  I  had  supposed.     Can  you  find  me 
anything  to  serve  as  a  pillow  ? ' 

He  picked  up  his  cap  reflectively  and  presently  said, '  I  hab 
it,'  and  stepping  to  a  raised  contrivance  abaft  the  rudder-head, 
he  produced  an  ensign  rolled  up.  '  Derej'  said  he,  '  dere's  dah 
British  colours  to  lie  on.  I'll  warrant  it  agin  all  dreaming, 
onless  it  be  a  wision  ob  do  Income  Tax.' 

I  took  the  roll  of  bunting,  and  wishing  him  good-night  went 
below,  and  stretched  myself  upon  a  locker.  A  slush  lamp  swung 
from  a  blackened  beam.  It  looked  like  a  cofiee-pot  with  the 
spout  vomiting  forth  a  lump  of  wick  burning  in  a  dim  flame 
that  blackened  into  a  line  of  smoke,  which  went  writhing  and 


3Ci  MAROONED 

f»* 

quivering  to  the  upper  deck,  whence,  spreading,  it  loaded  the 
atmosphere  of  this  interior  with  the  flavour  of  hot  fat.  The 
beams  were  lined  with  cockroaches,  wriggling  and  heaving  in 
dusky  lengths,  with  a  frequent  skirr  of  one  of  the  abominable 
creatures  swinging  past  my  ear  or  dropping  upon  my  face. 
It  was  roastingly  hot,  and  I  reared  to  find  Miss  Grant  suffocated 
in  the  morning,  if  indeed  the  sun  should  find  me  still  alive, 
.after  such  a  course  of  air  as  I  was  now  booked  to  breathe.  But 
miserable  as  it  was  below  I  durst  not  lie  on  deck.  The  dew 
was  like  rain,  and  the  light  breeze  was  wet  with  it.  Further 
exposure,  moreover,  following  on  top  of  what  we  had  already 
suffered  in  the  boat,  would  nave  been  sheer  madness,  seeing 
that  we  had  managed  to  come  off  with  our  health,  which  might 
receive  lasting  injury  from  another  night  spent  unsheltered  in 
the  warm,  moist,  fever-breeding  atmosphere  of  these  parallels. 

I  had  thought  the  Iron  Crown  as  noisy  a  ship  as  was  ever 
built,  but  compared  with  the  creaking  or  this  scnooner,  as  she 
rose  buoyant  to  the  dark  heave  of  the  swell,  floating  down  into 
the  hollow  for  another  slide  upwards,  the  straining  sounds 
inside  of  the  brig  were  as  the  soft  singing  of  a  woman  to  the 
clatter  of  a  watchman's  rattle.  But  I  was  dog-tired,  as  they 
say  at  sea,  and  my  cheek  could  not  have  pressed  the  ensign 
ten  minutes  before  I  was  sound  asleep. 

It  was  a  night's  rest  to  refresh  me,  and  though,  when  I  woke 
up  and  rolled  off  the  locker,  my  back  ached  from  the  hardness 
or  my  couch,  I  felt  a  new  man,  hearty,  hungry,  and  even  cheer- 
ful. But  it  was  sickening  though  to  go  on  deck  and  find  a  dead 
calm,  the  sea  molten  glass,  scarce  stirred  by  a  delicate  undula- 
tion, the  sun  an  intolerable  flame  of  fire  four  hours  high,  with 
the  heavens  half  full  of  his  white  dazzle,  and  the  rest  of  it  hot, 
silver  azure,  down  to  the  opalescent  edge  of  the  water.  In  the 
far  east  was  a  dot  of  light—a  sail ;  and  some  four  points  past  it 
to  starboard  a  streak  of  greenish  colour  swimming  a  finger's- 
width  above  the  horizon,  and  winding  like  a  small  sea-snake  in 
the  hot  air.  It  was  some  Cay,  the  name  of  which  I  have  for- 
gotten. There  was  nothing  besides  it  and  the  sail  in  sight,  not 
a  pinion  of  cloud  to  give  us  hope  of  so  much  as  a  catspaw. 

Miss  Grant  was  on  deck  when  I  arrived  there.  She  had  slept 
— not  very  well  she  told  me ;  but  she  had  managed  to  obtain 
rest  enough  to  refresh  her  spite  of  the  oven-like  sultriness  in 
which  she  lay.  She  was  awake  when  the  day  broke,  and  rose 
soon  after  the  light  had  filled  the  cabin. 

'You  were  sleeping  heavily  as  I  passed,'  she  said,  'and  in 
spite  of  being  covered  with  cockroaches.' 

'  Would  you  think  me  querulous  and  ill-tempered  now,'  said  I, 
looking  at  her, '  after  such  a  night  as  we  have  passed,  for  advising 
our  transshipment  at  the  earliest  possible  opportunity?' 

'Did  I  not  say,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  she  answered,  with  a  demure- 
ness  that  was  full  of  archness, '  that  I  am  willing  to  do  exactly 
as  you  please?' 


WE  QUIT  THE  'ORPHAN*  3^5 

I  sent  a  glance  deep  into  her  eyes,  but  the  riddle  went  the 
whole  length  of  my  sight  and  beyond  it.  Does  she  guess  that 
I  love  her?  I  thought;  and  can  I  suppose  that  she  is  even  a 
little  bit  fond  of  me — in  the  right  sort  of  way,  I  mean  ?  But  here 
Ducrovv  stumped  up  to  ask  us  where  we  would  breakfast. 

Our  first  day  in  the  open  boat  had  been  a  dead  calm,  as  you 
know,  but  this  was  deader  yet  as  it  seemed  to  me,  perhaps 
because  of  my  impatience,  that  would  grow  to  a  torment  when 
hour  after  hour  passed,  and  the  spot  of  light  that  signified  the 
sail  still  hung  stirless  in  the  same  quarter,  with  the  streak  of 
green  past  it  flickering  like  a  blowing  pennon  on  top  of  the 
white  gleam  that  trembled  betwixt  the  blue  of  the  sea  and  the 
•blue  of  the  sky,  and  never  a  shadow  of  air  from  sunrise  to  sun- 
down to  dye  a  fathom's  space  of  the  fiery,  breathless  surface. 
There  was  no  comfort  to  be  got  out  of  the  schooner  at  all,  saving 
the  news  that  there  was  plenty  of  fresh  water  aboard.  The 
pump  clanked  steadily  at  regular  periods  throughout  the  long 
hours.  Now  and  again  would  come  a  brief  bit  of  diversion  in 
the  shape  of  a  quarrel  between  two  negroes,  and  in  Captain 
Ducrow  s  airs  and  talk  there  was  much  to  laugh  at ;  but  the 
calm  was  in  all  things  and  over  all  things,  flattening  down  the 
spirits  to  its  own  monotonous  level,  with  the  heat  so  great  besides 
that  it  prohibited  one  the  ease  pi  venting  one's  self  by  eager 
exercise  ;  though  again  and  again  I'd  halt  start  from  my  seat 
with  a  longing  of  my  temper  to  exhale  itself  in  a  spell  of  swift, 
passionate  pacing  from  the  taffrail  to  as  far  forward  as  I  could 
have  got.  On  the  other  hand,  Miss  Grant  was  reserved,  quiet, 
thoughtful ;  always  gentle  and  kind  'f  welcoming  my  lightest 
speech  with  a  smile ;  humouring  my  little  fits  of  petulance,  and 
making  the  best  of  our  situation  by  recurrence  to  the  misery 
from  which  we  had  been  delivered^  But  her  gaze  no  longer 
met  mine  with  the  old  brilliant,  intrepid  steadfastness.  There 
was,  methought,  a  suggestion  of  coyness  about  it  that  showed 
somewhat  oddly  when  I  contrasted  it  with  the  dignified  sweet- 
ness and  fearless  candour  of  her  earlier  bearing.  It  chilled  her 
manner,  to  my  fancy,  as  something  foreign  to  her  nature,  and 
complicated  the  conundrum  for  me  yet,  for  there  were  times 
when  a  look  from  her,  a  gesture,  a  smile,  would  convey  notions 
that  set  my  heart  off  at  a  rapid  trot,  and  then  the  surface  would 
thinly  ice  again,  and  leave  me  as  bewildered  as  a  man  who 
struggles  to  hunt  out  another's  meaning  in  a  book,  the  pages  of 
which  have  been  wrongly  stitched. 


WELL,  we  had  three  days  of  this  sort  of  thing—three  day« 
and  three  nights  of  it ;  and  then  on  the  morning  of  the  fourth  a 
breeze  of  wind  darkened  and  roughened  the  western  ocean,  and 


328  MAROONED 

presently  the  little  schooner  was  again"  tinder  way,  off  her 
course  by  some  three  and  a  half  points,  but  sweeping  through 
it  gaily  nevertheless,  showing  herself  as  rejoiced  at  her  release 
as  if  a  human  heart  beat  in  her,  with  sharp  clips  of  her  sheering 
stem  at  the  frothing  surges  melting  to  her  bow,  and  a  saucy 
whisking  of  crystals  to  the  wind,  and  much  coquettish  prancing 
and  whipping  of  her  ill-conditioned  spars,  all  as  though  the 
little  crazy  beauty  should  say,  '  I  have  started  on  a  dance ;  the 
fiddles  have  struck  up ;  hark  to  their  strains  in  the  rigging ! — no 
white  foam-finger  along  my  path  shall  detain  me ;  every  offered 
kiss  of  the  blue  billow  will  be  repulsed.'  Ducrow  slapped  his 
thighs  and  urged  her  on,  bursting  into  thick  laughter  at  times 
in  his  glee,  and  pointing  with  a  veil  of  applause  to  the  sparking 
out  of  the  flying-fish,  as  though,  like  an  overgrown  child,  he 
tasted  a  kind  of  victory  in  the  flight  of  the  beautiful  little 
creatures  from  the  winged  and  buoyant  and  floating  rushes  of 
his  leaking,  trembling,  pump-sodden,  worn-out  old  Orplum. 

This  day,  shortly  after  noon,  a  small  brig  passed  us.  When  I 
first  sighted  the  squares  of  her  canvas  I  took  her  to  be  a  big 
ship,  for  she  showed  a  sky-sail  on  the  main,  which  threw  her  up 
tall  and  spire-like  as  she  came  blowing  up,  radiant  as  cotton 
could  make  her,  over  the  blue  edge.  I  had  not  said  a  word  to 
Ducrow  about  our  intention  of  leaving  his  schooner  if  a  chance 
came,  but  I  thought  I  would  do  so  now,  specially  as  yonder 
craft  promised  the  opportunity  I  had  fallen  half  crazy  in  yearn- 
ing for  duringour  time  of  stagnation.  But  first  I  spoke  to 
Miss  Grant.  We  were  sitting  under  the  little  awning  aft, 
whence  we  had  a  good  view  of  the  distant  sail  as  it  slowly 
enlarged. 

'If  that  ship  there  wil]  receive  us,'  said  I,  'shall  we  exchange 
this  schooner  for  her  ? ' 

^You  must  think  me  very  capricious,  Mr.  Musgrave,'  she 
answered ;  '  have  I  not  again  and  again  answered  yes  to  such 
another  question  as  that  ?  When  my  mind  is  made  up,  I  do  not 
quickly  change  it  indeed  without  excellent  reason.' 

'  But  I  want  you  to  reflect.  I  wish  you  to  think  for  yourself, 
and  of  yourself  wholly.  Be  that  fellow^  destination  what  it 
will,  he  is  bound  to  sail  as  straight  for  it  as  the  wind  will  let 
him.  He  is  heading  about  east.  Now  that  is  a  direction  exactly 
contrary  to  your  wishes.' 

'  My  wishes ! ' 

'  I  mean  that  his  bowsprit  points  to  any  other  quarter  of  the 
world  than  where  Rio  lies.' 

She  looked  at  me  an  instant  with  an  expression  in  her  eyes 
which  showed  her  mind  to  be  full,  though  I  was  too  blind  to 
make  out  a  shadow  of  wiiat  was  there — too  sensitive  perhaps  I 
should  say,  for  to  be  over  sensitive  is  to  be  worse  than  blind 
sometimes;  and  then  after  a  little  pause,  she  said  quietly, 
'Once  more,  Mr.  Musgrave,  I'm  quite  willing  to  leave  the 
schooner.' 


WE  QUIT  THE  'ORPHAN*  327 

*  Captain  Ducrow  1 '  I  sung  out. 

'  Hillo,  sah  ! '  he  answered  from  the  rail,  where  he  was  stand- 
ing with  his  arm  round  a  backstay,  watching  with  a  grin  the 
flash  of  his  little  ship  through  the  small  ridges  which  whitened 
into  cream  along  the  dirty  green  of  the  vessel's  sheathing. 

'Step  this  way,  will  you  1 '  said  L 

He  sprang  to  the  deck  and  approached. 

4  We  want  you  to  speak  that  vessel/  said  I,  pointing.  '  In  a 
word,  we  wish  you  to  stop  her  so  that  we  can  go  aboard  of  her, 
as  we  find  your  accommodation  scarcely  all  that  we  require,  at 
least  under  these  burning  heights  ;  otherwise,  we're  both  of  us 
quite  in  love  with  your  charming  little  vessel,  whilst  we  highly 
>alue  you  for  your  good  breeding,  and  thank  you  excessively 
for  the  attention  you  have  paid  us.' 

This  bit  of  troweling  I  deemed  necessary  that  the  rest  might 
be  easy,  but  his  surprise  mastered  his  gratification,  and  with  a 
sort  of  grin  in  his  twisted  mouth,  whilst  his  eyes  on  the  other 
hand  stared  their  amazement,  he  cried,  'Yah  want  to  leave 
dah  Orphan,  hein  1  'commodation  not  good  ?  But  I  know  dah 
reason.  De  calm's  disgusted  yah.  Yah  was  werry  mosh  satisfied 
afore  de  wind  fell.' 

'  Come,  captain,'  said  I, '  it  shall  be  all  the  same  to  you.  See 
here  ? '  I  pulled  out  my  pocket-book  and  produced  a  bank-note 
for  twenty  pounds.  'There,'  said  I.  slapping  it,  'place  us  aboard 
yonder  craft,  and  this  is  yours.  Oi  course,  if  she's  bound  to  some 
outlandish  place  we  shan  t  quit  you  ;  but  put  us  within  hailing 
distance,  will  you — signal  to  speak  her  ;  and  if  she  will  receive 
us,  and  her  destination  be  some  port  convenient  to  ourselves, 
you  shall  have  this  money  the  same  as  though  you  had  landed 
us  at  Havanna.' 

He  eyed  the  note  greedily  as  I  folded  it  up  and  returned  it  to 
the  pocket-book,  following  that  too  till  it  was  hidden,  and  tlien 
said,  'All  right,  sail.  Yah  11  miss  de  Orphan— dere's  nulfen 
afloat — but  den  ob  course  if  dah  lady  hain't  comfortable — '  He 
suddenly  roared  out, '  Hi,  Moses !  you  black  teef,  lay  aft,  mah 
bird  ob  Paradise,  an*  hoist  dat  ensign  half-mast  high.  Dat  '11 
make  'em  reckon  we've  got  someting  on  our  minds.' 

The  negro  came  shambling  along  with  the  ensign  that  I  had 
slept  on,  and  a  very  tattered  symbol  of  Britannias  mercantile 
sovereignty  floated  slowly  aloft,  and  then  blew  out  when 
within  a  dozen  feet  of  the  topmast-head.  The  stranger,  how- 
ever, appeared  to  take  no  notice  of  this.  There  was  no  telescope 
aboard  us,  but  she  was  near  enough  now  to  enable  me  to 
distinguish  her  with  the  naked  eye.  She  showed  no  colour,  nor 
indeed  exhibited  any  disposition  to  shift  her  helm  to  bear  down 
to  us.  Ducrow  luffed  till  our  canvas  was  shaking  fore  and  aft, 
so  that  nothing  could  have  been  more  expressive  of  our  desire 
to  speak  than  the  posture  of  the  schooner,  almost  at  a  stand, 
plunging  to  the  short  sea  that  she  had  now  brought  almost 
right  ahead,  with  every  dingy  balsamed  cloth  on  her  trembling, 


828  MAROONED 

and  the  half-masted  ensign  streaming  like  a  flame  aloft,  and 
giving  deep  emphasis  to  every  hint  discoverable  in  the  schooner's 
attitude.  As  the  stranger  drew  out  she  showed  herself  a  brig, 
a  smaller  vessel  than  the  Iron  Croion,  though  large  enough  to 
have  stowed  the  Orphan  between  her  rails.  She  was  under 
all  plain  sail,  with  the  weather-clew  of  the  mainsail  up,  and  she 
glided  past  with  graceful  courtesyings  upon  the  swell,  a  streak 
of  gold  gleaming  at  her  forefoot  to  the  light  of  her  bows,  with 
a  yeasty,  trembling  hurrying  along  it  like  a  ball  of  white  wool 
there,  which  unwound  itself  as  she  thrust  it  forwards.  But 
though  she  did  not  alter  her  course  by  so  much  as  a  quarter  of 
a  point,  our  own  wind-jamming  brought  her  close  enough 
aboard  to  enable  us  to  see  her  people  clearly.  A  couple  of 
figures  were  pacing  the  poop  under  the  snow-white  awning. 
There  was  a  group  of  heads  forwards,  and  a  sailor  in  the  fore- 
topmast-rigging  swinging  out  with  his  face  towards  the  schooner 
watching  us.  What  her  nationality  was  I  do  not  know.  I 
fancied  I  could  trace  something  of  a  Yankee  paternity  in  the 
colour  of  her  cloths  and  the  hoist  of  her  topsails  ;  but  be  this  as 
it  may,  had  we  been  some  green  old  water-logged  hulk,  hoary 
with  barnacles,  we  could  scarce  have  won  less  notice.  Nothing 
imaginable  could  be  more  provoking  than  the  sight  of  those 
two  figures  on  the  poop,  coolly  stumping  to  and  iro  with  our 
half-mast  ensign  fair  in  their  view,  and  our  little  ship  all  in  the 
wind,  piteous  to  the  eye  with  the  trembling  solicitude  her 
shivering  canvas  gave  to  her  mute  appeal. 

'Dem's  no  sailors,'  cried  Ducrow,  'dey's  what's  call  scow- 
bankers.  Moses,  mah  honey,  yah  may  haul  down  dah  ensign, 
Ebenezer,  my  lub,  up  helium  an'  fill  on  de  little  beauty  agin, 
Dere  '11  be  more  ships  passing  presently,'  he  added,  addressing 
me.  Then  clapping  his  hands  together,  he  yelled  at  the  top  of 
his  pipes,  'Tail  on  to  dah  troat  halliards,  mah  sweet  and 
pleasant  livelies ;  gib  dah  Orphan  a  chance,  boys.  Look  at 
dah  set  ob  dat  sail  Whar's  de  gal  whose  gwine  to  dance  wid 
de  heel  ob  her  boot  wore  down  ? '  saying  which  he  flung  himself 
excitedly  upon  the  tackle  in  question,  roaring  out  in  thick 
negro  accents — 

•Wah're  dah  dandy  ship  an'  dah  dandy  crew. 

(Choru*  of  black  throatt  putting  behind  hirn) 
Hi,  Bah  I  ho,  Bah!  slap  'im  up  cheearlyl 
We  am  dah  boys  who's  dah  lady's  only  joys, 

(Chorvt  of  black  throatt  pulling) 
An'  dah  gals  dey  lab  ns  dearhly. 

(Full  Chorus) 

An'  it's  yo  hi  ho !  dah  breeze  him  do  Wow, 

An'  dah  tack  will  come  taut  wid  dah  jigger  ! 

An*  dah  ship  she  roll  along 

To  u  lubberly  a  song 

AM  was  ebber  sweetly  sung  by  •  niggec.* 


WE  QUIT  THE  'ORPHAN*  «2fr 

The  job  of  sail-setting  being  ended,  Ducrow  looked  at  me  to1 
see  what  I  thought  of  nis  song — manifestly  a  composition  of 
his  own,  sung  to  an  air  that  had  an  odd  touch  of  African  wild- 
ness  in  it,  at  least  to  my  fancy,  as  it  floated  ventrally  through 
the  enormous  mouths  and  blubber  lips  of  the  chorusing  niggers. 
But  I  was  too  keenly  disappointed  and  mortified  by  the  cool 
behaviour  of  the  brig  to  heed  him. 

Our  chance,  however,  was  presently  to  come,  though  we  had 
to  wait  for  it  a  little  while  longer.  It  was  the  sixth  day  of  our 
being  on  board  the  schooner  Orphan.  Long  spells  of  dead 
calms,  of  light  head-winds,  and  small  baffling  breezes  had  re- 
sulted, spite  of  the  subtle  _  quality  of  sneaking  through  it  pos- 
sessed by  the  little  craft,  in  our  discovering  that  Havanna  still 
lay  a  fair  week's  sail  away  from  us,  even  supposing  a  prosperous 
wind  every  day,  and  an  average  run  of  a  hundred  miles  in  the 
twenty-four  hours.  At  wide  intervals  a  sail  would  show  remote 
and  faint  upon  the  horizon,  often  vanishing  magically,  like  a 
wreath  of  mist  devoured  by  the  sun.  Life  even  on  board  a 
large  West  Indiaman  in  these  waters,  the  most  roasting  liquid 
tract  on  the  face  of  the  world,  is  unendurable  enough  even  with 
a  wide  spread  of  snow-white  awnings  to  cool  the  deck,  with 
shadow  from  the  forecastle  to  the  tatfrail ;  great  cabin-windows 
wide  open,  the  heels  of  windsails  penetrating  every  aperture, 
with  a  constant  sluicing  of  the  planks  to  keep  them  cooL  But 
think  of  a  small  red-hot  schooner,  that  in  moments  of  a  breath- 
less calm,  when  the  sun  stood  almost  overhead,  tingled  with 
sounds  as  though  she  was  actually  frying !  the  cockroaches 
multiplying  day  by  day,  the  cabin  atmosphere  growing  more 
and  more  difficult  to  breathe  every  time  one  entered  it,  no 
shelter  save  a  strip  of  awning  aft,  nothing  better  to  eat  than 
salt  meat  and  ship's  biscuit,  nor  to  drink  than  cold  water,  of 
which,  though  the  stock  was  plentiful,  the  quality  was  by  no 
means  good,  and  which  was  certainly  not  to  be  rendered  more 
palatable  by  the  one  jar  of  fiery  rum  that  Ducrow  kept  secret 
in  his  lazarette,  never  producing  it  without  taking  a  dark  and 
suspicious  view  of  the  little  skylight,  or  going  on  tiptoe  to  the 
companion  to  make  sure  that  no  man  of  his  crew  was  peering 
down. 

But  there  was  bound  to  come  an  end  some  day  or  other  to 
these  faint  gaspings  of  catspaws ;  to  the  intolerable  brassy 
dazzle  of  the  noontide  heavens,  to  the  putrefying  calms  of  the 
night,  with  dim  configurations  of  phosphorus  and  graveyard 
glowings  of  ghostly  fires,  making  one  think  with  the  poet  that 
the  very  deep  was  rotting. 

It  was  the  morning  of  the  sixth  day  of  our  rescue  from  the 
perils  of  the  open  boat.  All  night  long  the  weather  had  been 
breathless,  but  with  the  rising  of  the  sun  there  had  come  a  small 
breeze  of  wind,  a  little  to  the  eastward  of  south,  which  as  the 
morning  advanced  freshened,  and  the  schooner  was  sliding 
through  it  once  again,  heading  saucily  along  her  course,  -with 


HOO  MAROONED 

Ducrow  strutting  the  decks  in  high  spirits,  a  couple  of  negroes 
repairing  a  sail  forward,  another  at  the  tiller,  a  fourth  perspir- 
ing at  the  old  pump. 

Suddenly  Ducrow  bawled  out,  '  Sail  ho  ! '  pointing  ahead. 

I  looked  languidly  in  the  direction  he  indicated,  not  rising 
even,  so  sick  was  I  of  this  cry  of  '  sail  ho  ! '  heretofore  as  barren 
to  my  purpose  as  a  parrot's  meaningless  croak  of  the  words.  I 
was  conversing  with  Miss  Grant  at  the  time,  and  turned  to  her 
afresh,  proceeding  in  what  I  was  saying  without  giving  the 
vessel  ahead  another  thought.  Time  passed  ;  presently  Ducrow 
said,  'Dat  fellow's  a  big  'un  what's  coming  'long  dah.  We 
mustn't  hab  de  go-by  given  us  dis  time,  if  it's  to  be  helped,  sah. 
Must  make  more  fuss,  odderwise  dere's  no  chance  ob  getting 
compassionated.'  So  saying,  he  went  to  the  little  locker,  took 
put  the  ensign,  and  bent  it,  Jack  down,  to  the  halliards,  and  ran 
it  half-mast  high,  belaying  it  slackly  that  it  might  blow  out 
with  a  good  visible  curve.  This  done,  he  bawled  to  his  men  to 
shorten  saiL 

'  Down  jib,,  mah  blackbirds !  down  wid  both  tawpsails  !  jump, 
mah  blacks,  jump  !  Hurrah  now  fo'  de  ship.  Up  maintack,  lot 
go  mainpeak-halliards.  Now  den,  Hebenezer,  you  black  teef, 
down  helium,  and  trow  us  right  up  into  de  wind — up  into  de 
wind — up  into  de  wind,  I  says,'  walloping  about  in  a  most 
extraordinary  manner  as  he  bawled  these  orders,  and  springing 
from  the  deck  on  his  naked  feet  as  though  the  planks  were  too 
hot — and  well  they  might  be ! — to  suffer  him  to  stand  upon 
them.  Thus  all  in  a  moment,  so  to  say,  the  little  schooner  was 
brought  to  a  halt;  her  mainsail  'scandalized.'  her  masts  half 
denuded  of  canvas,  her  bowsprit  pointing  to  the  wind,  the  few 
cloths  she  showed  shivering  to  the  breeze  with  such  a  symbol 
of  human  distress  flying  aloft  as  richly  coloured  and  most 
admirably  rounded  off  the  picture  of  misery  which  the  posture 
of  the  vessel  now  submitted. 

The  stranger  was  heading  dead  for  us,  as  though  she  must  run 
us  down  indeed,  so  immediately  were  we  lying  athwart  her 
hawse.  She  came  steadily  along,  with  her  yards  braced  forward, 
a  vessel  apparently  of  six  hundred  tons,  painted  black,  standing 
high  out  of  water,  a  foretopmast-stunsail  set,  her  royal  yards 
close  to  the  trucks,  with  a  glimpse  to  be  had  of  large  black 
tops  under  the  curve  of  her  topsails.  I  went  with  Miss  Grant 
to  the  side  to  watch  the  stranger.  My  heart  beat  fast  with 
expectation,  vet  I  struggled  hard  with  my  impulse  of  hope, 
dreading  in  tlie  mood  I  then  was  the  effect  of  a  second  disap- 
pointment. Suddenly  the  vessel  took  in  her  foretopmast-stun- 
sail, then  a  spot  of  colour  floated  aloft  past  the  shining  round 
of  her  courses  to  the  gaff  end.  It  blew  out,  and  I  muttered  just 
above  my  breath,  '  Thank  God ! '  as  I  recognized  the  English 
flag. 

'He  means  to  speak  us,  at  all  events,'  I  cried.  'Pray  Heaven 
he  will  show  mercy,  and  take  us  off  this  schooner.  Why,  if  he 


WE  QUIT  THE  'ORPHAN*  831 

were  bound  on  a  search  for  the  Xor'-West  passage  I'd  go  with 

•  •     •  w 

him. 

'  I  dare  say,'  Miss  Grant  exclaimed,  in  a  musing  soi-t  of  way, 
*that  the  captain  of  that  ship  will  wonder  at  our  wish  to  leave 
the  schooner  when  we  are  within  a  week's  sail  of  Ilavanna.' 

'Yes,5  said  I,  looking  at  her,  whilst  she  kept  her  face  averted 
by  continuing  to  gaze  at  the  approaching  vessel ;  '  but  we  are 
not  bound  to  Havanna,  you  know.  Rio  is  the  place  we  started 
for:  and  besides,  are  we  within  a  week's  sail  of  Ilavanna? 
Perhaps  to-morrow  may  introduce  a  succession  of  calms  that 
shall  last  a  month,  during  all  which  time  we  are  to  lie  here  in 
this  bescorched  schooner,  with  our  lovely  countenances  slowly 
roasting  into  a  rich  brown  under  yonder  heavenly  furnace  1 
Eh,  Miss  Grant  ?  Never  mind  about  that  skipper  there  wonder- 
ing. Better  Van  Diemen's  Land  in  a  ship  like  yon,  as  they'd  say 
in  the  north,  than  Havanna  with  Eio  close  on  its  heels  in  this 
little  frying-pan.' 

She  turned  just  to  glance  at  me,  with  a  gleam  like  a  smile  in 
the  look  she  shot  through  the  dark  fringes  that  drooped  again 
as  she  resumed  her  attitude  of  watching  the  coming  ship. 
'Twas  not  often  that  I  got  a  view  of  her  mind ;  but  by  her 
manner  then,  it  seemed  to  me  it  was  her  intention  to  let  me 
know  she  had  obtained  a  very  accurate  sight  of  mine.  Be  it 
so,  thought  I ;  but  if  that  craft  there  will  receive  us,  we'll  board 
her  all  the  same. 

She  was  a  handsome  picture  as  she  drew  close,  becalming  the 
blue  under  her  lee  into  a  tremorless  mirror,  in  which  the  re- 
flection of  her  swelling  canvas  sank  in  cream,  but  lustrous  as 
silver  too.  She  had  so  keen  a  stem  that  she  clove  the  rippling 
surface  with  scarce  the  disturbance  of  a  flash  of  froth  in  the 
wrinkles  which  broke  from  her  brows,  and  which  went  away 
astern  of  her  in  lines  of  light  when  her  shadow  was  off  them, 
and  when  they  streamed  fair  to  the  sun.  She  was  heading  as 
if  to  run  us  down,  but  on  a  sudden  her  main-topsail  was  braced 
aback,  with  a  falling  off  of  her  head  that  gave  us  a  view  of  her 
decks,  with  two  white  quarter-boats  swinging  at  the  weather 
davits ;  a  couple  of  men  standing  at  the  poop-rail  clothed  in 
white,  with  broad  straw  hats ;  oeyond  them  the  flutter  of 
woman's  apparel,  as  I  thought ;  several  sailors  on  the  top 
gallant-forecastle,  their  whole  shapes  plain  through  the  low  open 
rail  that  protected  this  part  of  the  craft.  As  she  came  floating 
alongside  within  easy  talking  distance,  she  seemed  to  tower 
above  us  like  a  line-of-battle  ship.  One  of  the  two  men  dressed 
in  white  approached  the  mizzen-rigging  to  hail  us.  I  now  saw  a 
woman  standing  near  the  skylight,  and  at  that  moment  another 
woman  came  up  through  the  little  companion-hatch  and  joined 
her. 

Ducrow  sprang  upon  the  bulwarks,  and  pulling  off  his  cap  ho 
wildly  flourished  it.  whilst  he  vociferated,  'Ho,  dah  ship  ahoy  ! ' 

'Hallo  1 '  responded  the  man  standing  at  the  mizzen-rigging. 


332  MAROONED 

*What  ship  am  dat?'  bawled  Ducrow,  but  with  a  fine  air  of 
importance  in  his  manner,  as  though  this  were  a  ceremony  to 
yield  him  dignity,  and  therefore  to  be  made  as  much  or  as 
possible.  I  secretly  bestowed  a  sea-blessing  or  two  upon  his 
bald  head  in  my  impatience ;  but  it  would  not  do  to  interrupt 
him 

'The  Bristol  Trader?  came  back  the  answer,  'of  and  for 
Bristol  from  Havanna,  five  days  out.  And  what  schooner's 
that?' 

'Dah  Orphan  ob  Nassoo,  bound  to  Havanna,  but  percasti- 
nated  by  calms  and  head  winds.  We  hab  someting  pertikler 
to  communicate,  and  will  send  a  boat.' 

'  Ay,'  cried  the  other  -}  '  but  can't  you  tell  us  what's  the  matter 
with  you  without  sending  a  boat  ?  You  have  your  ensign  Jack 
down  :  what  is  wrong  ?  Bear  a  hand,  for  time  s  precious.' 

On  hearing  this,  and  fearing  that  Ducrow  would  muddle  this 
opportunity  away  for  us  with  his  negro  dandyfications  and  fine 
airs  and  words,  I  sprang  on  to  the  rail  beside  him,  and  with  a 
thrust  of  my  elbow  tumbled  him  inboard. 

*  Ship  ahoy  I '  I  shouted, 
r    'Hallo!' 

*The  case  is  this.  This  lady.' pointing  to  Miss  Grant,  *and 
myself  sailed  as  passengers  from  the  Downs  in  June  last 
aboard  the  brig  Iron  Grown.  There  was  a  mutiny.  The  mate 
was  killed,  the  captain  disappeared,  and  the  brig  was  headed 
for  Cuba.  One  of  the  Bahama  Cays  was  made,  and  this  lady 
and  I  were  marooned  on  it.  A  boat  came  ashore,  we  left  the 
island  in  her.  and  were  picked  up  by  this  schooner,  and  we 
desire  to  exchange  her  for  your  ship,  if  you  will  receive  us  as 
passengers.' 

The  man  in  white  flourished  his  hand.  '  Come  aboard,'  he 
exclaimed ;  *  I  dare  say  we  can  arrange.' 

'Over  wid  dah  boat,  over  wid  dah  boat,  mah  darkies,' 
screamed  Ducrow.  *  Hurrah  now,  bullies,  no  stopping  now  to 
shave,  if  yah  please  ;  'taint  dinner-time  yet,  so  no  loafing.' 

The  schooner  carried  a  boat  on  chocks  amidships  :  as  leaky, 
sun-blistered,  paint-denuded  a  fabric  as  the  mother  whose  child 
she  was.  The  gangway  was  unshipped,  the  three  negroes  and 
Ducrow  yelling  and  bawling  all  together,  and  stamping  with 
their  naked  feet  till  the  thrashing  of  the  decks  sounded  like 
twenty  or  thirty  people  clapping  their  hands,  ran  the  boat  to 
the  gangway,  and  launched  her  smack-fashion.  The  excitement 
of  one  negro,  however,  carried  him  overboard  with  her.  He  fell 
plump,  but  his  black  head  instantly  shot  up  alongside  like  a 
sweep's  brush  out  of  a  chimney-pot,  and  in  a  trice  he  was  in  the 
boat,  combing  the  wet  out  of  his  breeches  and  grinning  into 
Ducrow's  face,  who  shook  his  fist  at  him  as  '  dah  clumsiest  son 
ob  a  hog  wid  a  sow  for  a  grandmudder  as  was  ebber  to  be  met 
'pon  dan  high  seas.' 

A  second  negro  then  jumped  into  the  boat,  into  which  tbt 


WE  QUIT  THE  'ORPHAN*  3:53 

•water  was  beginning  to  drain  in  twenty  places,  so  that  I  saw 
if  we  did  not  bear  a  hand  we  should  be  awash  before  we  had 
half  measured  the  distance  between  the  schooner  and  the  ship. 
The  negroes  threw  the  oars  over,  and  splashed  me  alongside  the 
Bristol  Trader  as  though  rowing  for  a  wager,  with  a  dollar  for 
the  man  who  should  catch  the  most '  crabs.'  I  sprang  into  the 
main-chains,  and  in  a  minute  stood  upon  the  ship's  poop. 

The  captain,  as  the  man  who  had  hailed  us  proved  to  be,  was 
an  intelligent-looking,  weather-darkened,  iron-haired  fellow  of 
some  forty^-five  years,  thin,  smooth-faced,  with  a  gray,  seawardly 
eye,  kind  in  its  expression.  I  raised  my  hat,  he  did  the  same. 
I  repeated  my  story,  now  relating  it  circumstantially.  The  two 
wo'men  drew  near  as  I  talked,  and  he  interrupted  me  once  to 
introduce  me  to  one  of  them  as  his  wife,  to  the  other  as  a  friend 
of  hers,  who  was  going  home  in  his  ship  as  a  passenger.  My 
romantic  story  seemed  quite  to  the  taste  of  these  ladies,  who 
frequently  broke  out  into  exclamations  of  astonishment,  whilst 
they  sent  glances  full  of  curiosity  at  Miss  Grant,  who  had  with- 
drawn to  the  shelter  of  the  awning  on  the  schooner's  quarter- 
deck, and  sat  there  watching  us,  too  far  off  for  her  beauty  to 
be  evident,  though  one  might  have  guessed  her  charms  even 
at  that  distance  by  the  delicate  light  of  her  face  under  her 
broad  hat. 

*  But  you  were  bound  to  Rio,'  said  the  captain, 

*  Yes,'  I  answered. 

'You  may  easily  get  to  Rio  from  Havanna,'  he  continued. 
'That  schooner  should  carry  you  to  Havanna  in  a  week.  It 
seems  a  pity  to  travel  all  the  way  home  again,  when  your  port 
is  comparatively  at  hand.  We  could  provision  you  too  with  a 
few  articles  to  render  the  run  more  tolerable.' 

'  No,'  said  I  warmly,  '  there  is  nothing  in  food  and  drink  to 
render  that  schooner  tolerable.  Her  cabin  creeps  with  cock- 
roaches, the  atmosphere  can  scarce  be  respired  for  the  heat  and 
smell  or  it.  The  lady  and  I  have  talked  the  matter  over,  and 
we  are  earnest  in  our  wish  to  return  to  England.  Why,  see 
here,  sir ;  you'll  be  able  to  land  us  at  Bristol  before  we  could 
hope  to  reach  Rio;  even  suppose  yonder  schooner  should  convey 
us  to  Havanna  in  a  week  s  time,  which  I  gravely  question 
when  I  recall  the  spells  of  weather  which  have  nearly  murdered 
us.  Of  course,'  I  went  on,  seeing  him  look  a  bit  reflective,  'we 
should  ask  you  to  receive  us  as  passengers,  that  is  to  say,  as  people 
who  will  be  glad  to  defray  all  charges  for  acorn inodating  us.' 

'Oh,'  he  said,  in  a  tone  of  indifference,  'that  matter  can  be 
hereafter  settled.  As  a  mere  question  of  humanity  it  would  be 
my  duty  to  receive  you.  You  have  no  luggage,  you  say  ? ' 

'None.' 

*  Well,  sir,  the  lady  can  come  along  at  once.'    He  looked  over 
the  side.    '  Hi,  you  Jumbos  1  shove  off  now,  and  bring  the  lady 
aboard.' 

I  hailed  the  schooner : '  Miss  Grant,  the  negroes  will  fetch  you. 


334  MAROONED 

Ducrow,  come  you  along  with  the  lady  that  you  may  receiva 
your  motiey.' 

Ten  minutes  later  I  had  assisted  Miss  Grant  over  the  side, 
and  escorted  her  on  to  the  poop.  She  bowed  with  stately  grace 
to  the  two  women,  who  courtesied  to  her  as  though  she  were  a 

Erincess.  The  captain,  whose  name  by  the  way  was  Foljambe, 
eld  a  trifle  aloof  at  sight  of  her,  eyeing  her  with  a  mixture  of 
astonishment  and  admiration.  Perhaps  now,  with  a  couple  of 
her  own  sex  at  hand  to  contrast  her  by,  helped  by  such  defini- 
tion as  her  fine  figure  would  obtain  from  the  white  and  roomy 
deck,  the  clean  brass-work,  the  sparkling  skylights,  the  snowy 
awning,  with  the  wheel  in  the  sunshine  past  it,  at  which  stood 
the  smartly-dressed  figure  of  an  English  sailor  carelessly  lean- 
ing upon  the  spokes,  watching  us  under  the  spread  of  a  great 
Cuban  hat — perhaps  now,  in  the  swift  glance  I  threw  at  her, 
I  could  see  in  a  manner  scarce  to  be  managed  before,  how 
little  her  beauty  had  suffered  from  the  trials  we  had  come 
through,  from  exposure  to  the  high  sun,  from  the  many  bitter 
anxieties  which  had  clouded  her  mind.  The  glow  of  the  tropics 
was  in  her  cheek,  and  seemed  to  clarify  the  brightness  ana  to 
enrich  the  loveliness  of  her  full,  dark,  speaking  eyes  ;  the  very 
neglect  of  apparel  enforced  by  privation  appeared  as  a  grace  in 
her,  as  the  dishevelment  of  her  soft  brown  lustrous  hair  gave  a 
character  of  romance  to  the  dignified  sweetness  of  her  counten- 
ance. 1  could  not  wonder  that  Mrs.  Foljambe  and  her  friend 
stared,  nor  that  the  captain  should  have  fallen  back  a  step 
to  her  approach,  as  though  veritably  startled  by  her  beauty, 
as  I  had  been  indeed  when  I  first  met  her. 

Captain  Ducrow  came  up  to  me,  cap  in  hand.  His  strut  was 
incomparable.  I  heard  tne  half-smothered  laughter  of  men 
forward  as  he  bowed  first  to  the  captain's  wife,  then  to  her 
friend,  then  to  the  captain,  bringing  his  cap  to  his  heart,  and 
slowly  bending  his  body,  till  I  thought  he  had  a  mind  to  double 
himself  up  after  the  manner  of  stage  contortionists. 

'Berry  sorry  to  lose  yah,  Massa  Musgrave,'  he  said  to  me, 
'and  berry  much  sorrier  still  to  say  good-bye  to  dis  most 
boptiful  lady,  which,'  he  added,  with  an  emotional  grunt  in  his 
voice, '  I  may  nebber,  nebber  see  agin  in  dis  yeerie  earth — '  He 
was  proceeding,  but  I  could  see  that  Captain  Foljambe  was 
impatient.  So  I  cut  him  short  by  handing  him  the  bank-note, 
and  then  shook  him  warmly  by  the  hand,  thanking  him  with 
the  sort  of  sincerity  that  a  man  who  had  gone  through  what  I 
had  could  hardly  miss  of,  for  his  rescue  of  us  and  his  subsequent 
kindness.  Miss  Grant  also  gave  him  her  hand,  addressing  a 
few  words  of  gratitude;  but  my  gravity  vanished  when  the 
poor  fellow  suddenly  plumped  down  on  one  knee  and  lifted 
her  fingers  to  the  side  of  his  face  where  his  mouth  was. 

'Now  then,  skipper,'  cried  Captain  Foljambe,  'away  with  ye, 
my  lad.  This  is  a  breeze  to  make  the  most  of,  so  please  don't 
keep  me  waiting.' 


WE  QUIT  THE  'ORPHAN'  335 

Gor  bless  yah !  Gorramighty  in  hebben  bless  yah  both,  an* 
make  yah  happy,'  cried  the  poor  fellow,  backing  to  the  gang- 
way as  though  from  the  presence  of  royalty,  and  speaking  with 
so  much  emotion  that  I  looked  to  see  him  blubber.  *  May  dah 
good  Lord  look  down  'pon  dis  ship,  and  send  yah  ten-knot 
breezes  all  dah  way ;'  and  arrived  at  the  gangway,  he  dropped 
over  the  side,  and  was  pulled  to  his  little  schooner. 

'Get  your  topsail-yard  swung,  Mr.  Murphy,'  exclaimed  the 
captain,  addressing  the  mate,  who  was  the  other  of  the  two 
men  I  had  noticed  clothed  in  white,  and  who  had  been  standing 
quietly  on  the  lee-side  of  the  poop,  waiting  for  this  business 
to  end. 

The  sailors  sprang  to  the  braces ;  the  great  yards  came  slowly 
round,  the  sails,  silk-white  to  the  sunshine,  swelled  out  to  the 
blue  breeze,  and  the  Bristol  Trader  was  heading  along  on  her 
course  again.  Meanwhile  the  two  negroes  had  splashed  Ducrow 
aboard  his  little  schooner  in  hot  haste,  to  save  themselves  the 
job  of  baling  the  boat,  as  I  suspected  ;  but  I  gathered  what  the 
hurry  was  about,  when  the  poor  yellow-faced  fellow,  who  had 
drawn  his  cap  down  over  his  ears  in  his  excitement,  floundered 
as  though  pursued  by  a  bull  to  the  signal-halliards,  hauled  down 
the  ensign  with  frantic  gesticulations,  bent  it  on  afresh  with  the 
Jack  right-side  up,  and  then  sent  it  aloft  again,  yelling  to  one 
of  his  negroes  to  lay  aft  in  a  voice  that  was  distinctly  audible, 
though  the  distance  between  the  vessels  was  being  magically 
widened,  considering  the  lightness  of  the  breeze.  The  negro 
seized  one  length  of  the  halliards,  Ducrow  the  other,  and  between 
them  they  dipped  the  flag,  that  is  to  say,  they  lowered  it  as  a 
token  of  farewell — hoisting  it  anew,  and  then  lowering  it — not 
once,  not  five  times,  but  over  and  over  and  over  again ;  the 
whole  dusky  crowd  of  them  howling  a  good-bye  at  us  every 
time  the  flag  rose  to  the  masthead,  until  the  schooner  had 
slipped  so  far  astern  that  their  voices  could  no  longer  be 
caught,  whilst  the  flag  itself  had  dwindled  into  a  mere  red  spot. 

It  was  the  last  I  saw  of  the  little  craft  ere  I  turned  to  accept 
Captain  Foljambe's  invitation  to  step  below.  I  behold  her  now 
again  with  my  mind's  eye,  heaving  to  the  long  ocean  swell,  with 
a  tremor  of  light  in  her  black  side,  as  she  lifts  it  wet  from  the 
brine,  slowly  paying  off  with  her  jib  rounding,  her  main-peak 
hoisting,  a  aingy  white  topsail  slowly  creeping  to  the  masthead, 
the  Lihputiamzed  figures  of  her  crew  making  a  very  toy  of  the 
little  fabric  indeed  as  she  heads  slowly  into  the  mighty  loneli- 
ness of  the  ocean  past  her  bows,  with  the  glare  of  the  sun  in 
the  sky  over  her  going  down  like  a  wall  of  dazzling  brass  to  the 
sifting  into  it  of  the  whitish  blue  of  the  heavens  trembling  upon 
the  remote  western  confines.  Ah,  there  are  no  memories  BO 
dream-like  as  those  one  carries  away  from  the  ocean. 


3S3  MAKOONED 


CHAPTER^  XXXV 
HOMB 

THE  Bristol  Trader  was  one  of  the  most  comfortable  ships  of 
her  class  that  ever  I  was  aboard  of.  Her  cabins  were  tall  and 
roomy,  her  decks  spacious,  her  port-holes  large,  her  hatchways 
big  enough  to  serve  for  an  emigrant  ship.  After  our  experiences 
on  the  island,  in  the  open  boat,  and  on  the  schooner,  it  was  like 
arriving  at  some  cheerful,  hospitable  inn,  with  the  welcome  of  a 
blazing  fire,  a  hot  supper,  and  a  warm  bed,  after  hours  of  blind 
groping  over  miles  of  snow-clad  moors,  to  find  one's  self  in  such 
a  ship  as  this.  One  needs  to  be  marooned  to  appreciate  comforts 
made  cheap  by  homeliness  and  familiarity.  ^  We  had  been 
absolutely  destitute  aboard  the  schooner,  without  the  com- 
monest and  meanest  conveniences — no  hairbrush,  no  towels, 
soap,  sheets,  and  what  not ;  nay,  there  had  not  been  even  a  look- 
ing-glass, and  neither  Miss  Grant  nor  I  had  the  least  idea  of  the 
sort  of  faces  we  submitted  until  we  had  been  conducted  to  our 
cabins  by  Captain  Foljambe  and  his  wife.  I  borrowed  a  razor 
from  the  captain,  and  shaved  myself  for  the  first  time  since  I 
had  left  the  island,  and  I  protest  the  sensation  was  as  though 
nature  had  clothed  me  in  a  new  skin.  It  is  the  commonplaces 
of  life  which  make  themselves  heard  of  in  maritime  disasters. 
The  captain  was  good  enough  to  lend  me  a  clean  shirt  and 
collar,  with  other  articles  of  underclothing,  all  which  sat  very 
comfortably  upon  me,  as  we  were  pretty  nearly  of  the  same 
build.  He  tola  me  that  his  wife  was  taking  care  of  Miss  Grant, 
that  she  (namely,  Mrs.  Foljambe),  together  with  her  friend  Mrs. 
Tweed,  had  between  them  a  plentiful  stock  of  clothing,  so  that 
my  companion  could  be  at  once  made  comfortable,  and  kept  so 
until  our  arrival  at  Bristol.  « •-**•••• 

He  was  a  man  that  improved  on  acquaintance,  shrewd, 
respectful,  sailorly  in  a  sort  of  careless  manner  that  was  a  grace 
in  its  way,  well  spoken,  with  something  of  the  manners  of  a 
well-bred  gentleman,  roughened^  without  being  coarsened  by 
the  usage  of  the  ocean.  He  sat  in  my  bunk  whilst  I  dressed, 
and  asked  me  many  questions  about  the  Iron  Croum,  and  our 
life  on  the  island.  He  could  give  me  no  news  of  the  brig,  did 
not  seem  to  know  of  her  name  even,  but  he  told  me  that  whilst 
at  Havanna  he  had  heard  of  a  vessel  which  had  fallen  in  with 
a  boat  containing  four  men,  that  had  gone  adrift  during  thick 
;  weather  from  the  craft  that  owned  it ;  and  this  coming  on  top 
of  DucroVs  narration,  confirmed  my  belief  that  Gordon  and 
the  others  had  been  saved ;  for  which  I  was  heartily  thankful 
indeed. 

1    It  was  long  past  the  dinner-hour,  but  neither  Miss  Grant  nor 
I  bad  broken  our  fast  since  the  morning. 


HOME  337 

On  my  telling  Captain  Foljambe  this,  he  immediately  gave 
orders  to  his  steward  to  prepare  a  meal  for  us  in  the  cabin,  and 
by  the  time  I  had  finished  civilizing  myself  with  the  razor, 
hairbrush,  and  the  skipper's  linen,  the  meal  awaited  us :  cold 
roast  chicken,  fine  white  biscuits,  ham.  several  plates  of  fruit  with 
the  sweetness  of  the  tropic  soil  still  in  their  flavour  and  fresh- 
ness, a  decanter  of  brandy,  a  monkey  of  cold  water — why,  Heaven 
bless  us !  after  poor  DucroVs  brine-toughened  buffalo  meat  and 
his  caulkers  of  water  warm  from  the  scuttle-butts,  this  was 
such  a  princely  regale  that  the  recollection  of  it  bids  fair  to 
outlast  the  memory  of  many  a  sumptuous  banquet  that  I  had 
^before  and  have  since  sat  down  to.  The  afternoon  sunshine 
"flashed  azure  off  the  water  through  the  open  ports,  and  filled 
the  interior  with  a  soft  golden  haze  that  floated  cool  to  every 
sense  in  me  after  our  days  and  nights  of  the  Orphan's  cabin, 
upon  the  atmosphere  freshened  by  the  gushings  of  air  from  the 
white  canvas  tubes  of  the  windsails,  whilst  the  eye  was  soothed 
by  the  violet  shadow  cast  by  the  awning  down  upon  the  open 
skylights,  in  whose  gaping  casements  the  hot  breeze  hummed 
as  though  it  echoed  the  burden  of  the  island  insect  chorus. 

I  was  conversing  with  the  captain's  wife  and  Mrs.  Tweed, 
two  very  homely,  unaffected  ladies,  brimful  of  kindness  ana 
sympathy,  when  Miss  Grant  arrived.  I  had  never  seen  her 
beauty  look  so  rich.  The  peculiar  complexion  of  the  atmosphere 
in  the  cabin  just  then  may  have  helped  her,  but  methought 
there  was  the  glory  of  the  newly-blown  flower  in  her  as  she 
stood  a  moment  after  coming  out  of  her  cabin,  instantly  smiling 
as  our  gaze  met.  I  brought  her  to  the  table,  and  we  seated 
ourselves.  There  was  a  West  Indian  plant,  bearing  a  star- 
shaped  flower  lovely  as  the  lily,  but  inodorous,  trained  against 
the  nandsomely-framed  trunk  of  the  mizzen-mast,  sloping  abaft 
the  table  from  the  deck  to  tha  cabin.  The  captain  cut  one  of 
these  flowers  and  presented  it  with  a  sailorly  bow  to  Miss 
Grant,  who  thanked  him,  and  put  it  in  her  bosom. 

'This  sort  of  thing,'  said  I,  almost  jealous  to  think  that  the 
hand  of  a  stranger  should  have  touched  a  stem  that  was  to  find 
so  sacred  a  resting-place, '  makes  one  feel  alive  again.  I  fancy 
I  must  have  been  dead  for  a  month,  perhaps  a  little  longer. 
Everything  strikes  me  with  an  astonishment  that  is  preposter- 
ously unnatural.  This  damagk  table-cloth ;  how  white  it  is ! 
this  crystal  tumbler— I  never  before  knew  glass  to  sparkle  so ! 
and  yonder  roast  chicken  I — upon  my  word,  I  thought  there  had 
been  an  end  of  hens.' 

The  captain  laughed.  *I  have  been  shipwrecked,  sir/  he 
exclaimed.  '  I've  known  the  time  when  the  hairy  face  of  a  sea- 
man, all  knobs  and  warts,  has  set  me  weeping  as  though  I  was 
taking  my  last  view  of  the  only  man  left  in  the  world  besides 


^How  very  odd!'  exclaimed  Mrs.  Foljambe.     Tve  never 
heard  yon  say  that  before,  William.1, 


3.-JS  MAROONED 

'My  dear,'  said  he,  'had  it  been  the  last  woman  perhaps  I 
shouldn't  have  cried.' 

'  Because  I  dare  say  you'd  have  taken  care  it  shouldn't  have 
been  your  last  view  of  her,'  observed  Mrs.  Tweed,  dryly.  This 
lady  was  a  widow. 

'Now,  Miss  Grant,' said  I,  working  away  at  the  roast  fowl  and 
ham,  and  immensely  enjoying  Captain  Foljambe's  excellent  old 
brandy,  'shall  we  ask  our  kind  friend  here  to  shift  his  helm 
and  give  chase  to  the  schooner,  that  we  may  overhaul  and  board 
her  afresh,  and  make  our  way  to  Havanna  in  her  ? ' 

'  If  you  will  return  to  her,  I  will,'  she  answered. 

'That  means  no.'  said  Captain  Foljambe.  'No  for  all  hands. 
Bad  look-out  to  shift  the  helm  now,  Miss  Grant.  It  blows  a 
pretty  six-knot  breeze.' 

'  Hurrah  ! '  cried  I.  '  Why,  with  this  clipper  keel  under  us  we 
shall  be  heaving  Bristol  into  sight  whilst  the  little  Orphan  is 
still  dodging  the  ghost  of  a  catspaw  in  waters  not  yet  hull  down. 
No,  no,  it  was  a  voyage  not  to  be  pursued.  A  twenty-five-ton 
boat,  Mrs.  Foljambe  !  her  one  pump  going  day  and  night !  all  the 
plagues  of  Egypt  rolled  into  one,  in  the  shape  of  cockroaches  1 
Think  of  that,  Mrs.  Tweed.' 

'  Shocking,  sir,'  she  cried, '  the  horrid  creatures !  But  there 
are  none  here,  thank  goodness.' 

'  Here  and  there  one,'  said  the  captain. 

And  so  we  went  on,  chatting  and  eating,  then  mounted  on 
deck,  I  with  a  big  Havanna  cigar  in  my  mouth,  so  joyous  in 
spirits  that  it  might  have  needed  but  a  band  of  music  to  have 
started  me  off  dancing  for  the  rest  of  the  day.  What  words 
have  I  to  describe  the  delight  that  filled  me,  as  I  looked  at  the 
sparkling  blue  sea,  sloping  between  the  awning-stanchions  to 
the  heavens,  which  were  reddening  all  round  to  the  westering  of 
the  luminary,  and  at  the  swelling  folds  of  the  courses,  which, 
past  the  edge  of  our  canvas  shelter,  rose  in  stately  cloud  upon 
cloud,  every  cloth  silently  doing  its  work,  rounding  marble-like 
to  leeward,  the  shadows  of  the  rigging  lying  in  delicate  curves 
in  each  still,  snow-like  heart,  and  the  tinkle  of  water  cwiftly 
shorn  at  the  stem  faintly  sweeping  a  bell- like  note  through  the 
steady  breezing  of  the  wind  I  The  ocean  looked  boundless  from 
the  height  of  the  poop-deck,  and  the  way  before  us  was  yet  a  long 
road.  But  my  heart  beat  the  more  gladly  for  the  very  thought 
of  it  when  I  turned  to  look  at  AureHa  Grant,  and  reflected  that 
she  was  still  by  my  side  ;  that  for  many  a  week  we  should  be  to- 
gether ;  that,  in  short,  I  had  by  this  manoeuvre  indefinitely  post- 
poned the  hour  of  our  separation.  Was  I  dishonourable  1  Was  I 
disloyal  ?  Was  I  unfaithful  to  my  trust  ?  Maybe,  maybe.  How 
you  would  have  acted  in  my  case  I  cannot  telL  Fallibility  must 
tail  somewhere,  says  the  old  moralist.  And  I  was  in  love. 

But  you  have  made  one  eventful  voyage  with  me,  and  I  am 
as  little  desirous  possibly  as  you  that  you  should  undertake  a 
second  uneventful  one— uneventful,  I  mean,  in  respect  of  inci- 


HOME  839 

dent,  for  we  were  a  smart  ship,  and  the  crew  hearty  and  honest^ 
die  captain  a  wise  disciplinarian,  and  his  two  mates  plain, 
sturdy,  steady-going  seamen.  Yet  though  uneventful  in  the 
sense  of  gales  of  wind,  collisions,  lee-shores,  leaks,  mutinies,  and 
the  rest  of  the  list  of  maritime  perils,  i'or  me  it  was  marked  by 
a  passage  that  rendered  it  more  stirring  than  all  the  experi- 
ences we  had  gone  through  boiled  down  into  one  could  have 
proved.  I  have  spoken  of  a  quality  of  reserve  in  Miss  Grant's 
manner  when  aboard  the  schooner,  of  my  own  sensitiveness  to 
it,  and  how  between  us  there  had  come  a  something  that  seemed 
to  hold  us  a  bit  apart ;  but  this  had  made  way  before  we  left 
the  little  vessel  for  the  old  frankness,  the  warmth,  the  sweet 
and  fearless  cordiality  of  her  bearing  towards  me  when  on  the 
island.  Yet  we  had  not  been  twenty -four  hours  in  the  Bristol 
Trader  when  I  noticed  that  her  behaviour  was  once  more 
charged  with  a  chilly  and  uncomfortable  element  of  reserve. 
Then  she  even  grew  timorous  at  times,  shunning  my  gaze, 
though  sometimes  I'd  catch  her  unawares  watching  me  with  an 
expression  of  wistful  ness  that  lay  sad  in  her  eyes,  like  a  shadow 
of  melancholy  there.  I  very  well  knew  she  had  guessed  that 
my  proposal  to  sail  home  was  merely  that  I  might  possess  her 
society  for  some  weeks  or  perhaps  months  longer,  and  I  would 
fancy  that  in  thinking  over  this  she  had  come  to  resent  it,  as 
though  she  was  now  clearly  seeing  that  my  duty  lay  in  pro- 
ceeding with  her  in  the  schooner  to  Havanna,  whence,  as  Cap- 
tain Foljambe  was  constantly  saying — and  I  certainly  did  not 
like  him  the  better  for  this  confounded  trick  of  iteration — we 
would  have  met  a  ship  to  transport  us  to  Rio  without  delay. 

All  this  secret  worrying  in  me  over  what  might  be  in  her 
thoughts  resulted  in  cooling  my  manner  too,  though  my  love  for 
her  increased  as  my  demeanour  became  inexpressive ;  and  some- 
times it  would  happen  that  we  were  together  only  at  meal-times, 
by  which  I  mean  that  I  would  go  and  sulkily  post  myself  in  some 
corner  with  a  book,  which  I  would  read  upside  down,  wh^st  she 
paced  the  deck  with  the  captain's  wife  or  Mrs.  Tweed,  or  remain 
below  in  the  cabin.  I  was  forever  seeking  to  interpret  her,  but 
never  could  find  the  hints  I  sought.  Wh^n  vf ith  her  I  would 
constantly  talk  of  Alexander  and  of  the  plans  I  had  formed : 
for  instance,  we  should  arrive  at  Bristol ;  we  should  then  proceed 
to  London,  where  she  would  take  up  her  abode  at  the  hotel  she 
occupied  before  she  ^eft  England,  whilst  I  made  all  necessary 
preparations  for  a  second  attempt  to  carry  her  to  her  sweetheart. 
But  I  took  notice  whilst  I  thus  talked  that  she  had  very  little  to 
say  to  it  all.  She'd  thank  me  and  tell  me  I  was  too  good,  and 
protest  that  it  was  not  likely  she  would  put  me  to  the  trouble 
of  escorting  her  again ;  that  most  probably  on  her  arrival  in 
London  she  would  write  the  story  of  our  adventures  to  Rio,  and 
wait  for  my  cousin  to  fetch  her — most  probably ;  indeed,  she 
would  add  with  a  sigh,  she  had  not  made  up  her  mind.  There 
was  plenty  of  time  to  think  the  matter  over,  and  meanwhile  I 

Z2 


S10  MAROONED 

was  not  to  dream  that  she  would  again  subject  me  to  the  risk 
of  undergoing  perhaps  worse  adventures  than  those  which  we 
had  happily  come  safe  through.  This  and  the  like  she  would  say. 
but  always  with  a  sort  of  air  of  indifference,  as  though  she  talked 
to  a  person  whose  programme  she  did  not  regard  as  a  very  sincere 
one,  and  as  though  in  consequence  she  could  take  no  interest 
in  it. 

There  came  a  day,  however,  when  feeling  grew  too  strong  for 
me.  Conscience  had  wrestled  hard  with  inclination,  but  to  no 
purpose.  Often,  whilst  tossing  in  my  bunk  at  night,  whilst 
seated  alone  on  the  deck  by  day,  I  would  ask  myself  if  I  had 
not  acted  dishonourably  in  falling  in  love  with  this  woman,  and 
whether  I  should  not  be  rendering  my  sin  heinous  beyond 
forgiveness  by  proposing  to  her.  But  it  was  like  putting  some 
insoluble  riddle  to  my  heart.  I  gave  it  up.  Had  Alexander 
been  my  brother  instead  of  my  cousin  it  would  have  been  all 
the  same.  I  was  head  over  ears  in  love  with  Aurelia  Grant, 
and  I  made  up  my  mind  to  marry  her  if  she  would  have  me. 
And  there  came  a  time,  as  I  have  said,  when  patience  gave  way, 
when  passion  grew  too  powerful  for  restraint,  ana  when  I 
determined  to  put  the  matter  boldly  to  her  and  see  what  she 
had  to  say  to  it. 

The  ship  was  then  on  the  equatorial  verge  of  the  Bay  of 
Biscay,  so  you  will  gather  that  I  did  not  make  up  my  mind  in 
a  hurry.  Our  clipper  had  made  a  noble  run  through  the  trades, 
with  fine  weather  and  pleasant  breezes  to  follow,  and  now  on 
this  day  at  noon  we  found  ourselves  under  all  plain  sail  on  the 
port  tack,  bowlines  triced  out,  a  light  breeze  off  the  bow,  and 
the  vessel  sliding  quietly  through  it  over  the  long  undulations 
of  the  Atlantic  swell,  flowing  with  pulse-like  regularity  from 
the  westward.  When  the  dusk  settled  down,  the  half  moon 
shone  in  the  sky.  Her  light  lay  soft  and  white  upon  our  high- 
reaching  canvas,  and  filled  the  shadow  between  the  rails  with 
a  silver  tint,  through  which  the  forms  of  the  seamen  moved  in 
dark  outlines.  The  awning  was  furled,  and  the  poop-deck  lay 
almond-white  to  the  stars,  with  many  quicksilver-like  ripplings 
of  radiance  in  the  polished  brass-work,  and  the  man  at  the 
helm  rising  with  the  lift  of  the  stern  against  a  faintness  like 
the  after-glow  on  the  sea-line  there,  his  shape  sharply  wrought 
upon  it,  and  the  circle  and  spokes  of  the  wheel  keen  as  though 
he  and  it  were  an  etching  in  India  ink. 

I  came  on  deck  after  an  hour  spent  alone  in  my  cabin,  and 
stood  a  little  at  the  head  of  the  ladder  that  led  to  the  poop, 
trying  to  persuade  myself  that  I  lingered  to  admire  this  fair 
ocean  night-picture ;  but  I  found  my  eyes  quickly  going  from 
it  in  search  of  Miss  Grant.  I  saw  her  in  a  moment  standing 
in  the  dark  shade  flung  on  the  deck  by  the  reflection  of  the 
mizzen-mast.  She  was  talking  to  Mrs.  Foljambe  and  Mr. 
Murphy,  the  chief  mate.  I  put  on  the  lightest  air  I  could 
summon,  and  approached  the  group  in  an  easy  saunter. 


HOME  841 

'Pleasant  weather  this  for  the  close  of  October,  Mrs. 
Foljambe,'  said  I ;  '  it  won't  be  quite  so  nice  a  little  higher  up.' 

'There's  no  climate  after  all,  Mr.  Musgrave,  that  beats  the 
English,'  said  Mrs.  Foljambe. 

'Well,  madam,'  said  I,  '  I  might  agree  with  you  if  I  were  a 
slug  or  a  water-rat.' 

'You  must  go  to  the  west  of  Ireland  for  a  fine  climate/  quoth 
Mr.  Murphy. 

'  Too  much  steam,'  said  Mrs.  Foljambe.  '  I  once  stayed  a  week 
at  Ballyvaghan,  and  it  was  like  looking  at  natural  scenery 
through  the  smoke  from  a  bowl  of  hot  punch.' 

'You  should  have  thried  Ballaghaderreen,  ma'm,'  said  Mr. 
Murphy. 

'  Say  Ballydehob  at  once,  now,'  answered  Mrs.  Foljambe ; 
'and  I  am  sure  a  hob  the  poor  creatures  who  live  there  must 
find  it — a  hob  with  a  steaming  kettle  on  it.' 

'Well,'  said  I,  '  this  evening  is  a  fine  one,  but  it  is  a  bit  chilly 
for  all  that.  What  say  you  to  a  stroll,  Miss  Grant  ? ' 

She  assented,  and  we  left  Mrs.  Foljambe  and  Mr.  Murphy 
arguing  on  the  climate  of  Ireland. 

'Will  you  take  my  arm  ? '  said  I.  ' This  long  heave  is  gentle, 
but  it  doesn't  help  to  steady  one.' 

She  did  as  I  asked.  I  thought  I  felt  a  little  tremor  in  her 
fingers ;  she  was  silent  and  pensive,  looking  away  from  me 
towards  the  ocean ;  but  this  had  been  her  demeanour  of  late, 
and  was  therefore  not  new  in  her. 

'  This  is  the  Bay  of  Biscay,'  said  I ;  '  not  many  more  days  novr 
before  us.' 

'I  shall  be  glad  when  the  voyage  is  ended,'  she  answered : 
*the  Foljambes  are  very  kind,  everything  is  nice  here,  but  I 
am  weary — weary — weary  of  the  sea,  Mr.  Musgrave.' 

'  You  had  need  be  ;  it  has  used  you  very  ill,  and  something 
of  this  weariness  of  the  ocean  you  are  extending.' 

'  Extending  !     I  don't  understand  you.' 

'  Well  now,  to  be  plain,  Miss  Grant,  you  have  had  enough  of 
my  company.' 

'You  don't  think  so,'  she  answered  quietly;  'why  do  you 
say  so  then  ? ' 

*  I  say  so  because  I  think  so,  and  I  think  so  because  the  fancy 
has  been  forced  upon  me  by  your  manner.  Since  we  have  been 
in  this  ship  you  have  ceased  to  be  what  you  were,' 

•What  was  I?' 

'Warm,  cordial,  frank,  making  our  association  to  me  so  sweet 
an  intimacy,  that  though  I  was  clamorous  to  leave  the  island, 
I  now  vow  to  Heaven  I  would  be  glad  to  go  on  suffering  a  life- 
long imprisonment  in  it  to  preserve  what  I  have  lost  in  you.' 

'You  have  lost  nothing,'  sne  exclaimed,  speaking  in  a  subdued 
voice,  that  did  not  however  conceal  her  agitation  ;  'if  you  have 
noticed  any  change  in  me,  it  is  but  the  reflection  of  your  own 
manner.' 


342  MAROONED 

'My  manner  I  It  should  be  warm,  not  cold;  it  should  b» 
bright,  not  gloomy,  if  love  be  the  hot  and  radiant  emotion  the 
poets  tell  us  it  is.  Aurelia — ' 

She  fixed  her  dark  eyes  upon  me  as  I  pronounced  her  name, 
and  halted,  looking  at  me  intently,  but  for  a  few  seconds  only, 
then  her  gaze  fell,  and  she  resumed  her  walk,  still  holding  my 
arm. 

'Aurelia,'  I  said  gently,  *you  heard  what  I  have  said — you 
know  now  that  I  love  you.' 

'I  have  known  it  a  long  while,'  she  answered,  still  looking 
down,  but  speaking  with  composure,  though  I  have  little  doubt 
I  should  have  felt  her  heart  in  her  finger-tips  had  I  brought 
them  to  my  lips 

'You  say  I  have  no  sympathy  j  but  I  am  quicker  to  see  than 
you — quicker  to  recognize. 

Her  meaning  was  as  clear  as  the  sound  of  a  belL  We  were  to 
leeward,  forward  as  far  as  the  deck  extended ;  the  sheet  of  the 
great  main  course  curved  like  a  dusky  wing  betwixt  us  and 
the  moonlight  on  the  water,  and  we  stood  in  this  dusk,  concealed 
from  the  others,  obscured  from  all  eyes  in  the  fore-end,  though 
clearly  visible  to  each  other.  It  was  my  turn  now  to  halt.  I 
let  fall  her  hand  from  my  arm,  then  clasped  it  and  the  other  as 
well.  She  stood  passive.  I  drew  her  to  me  till  her  face  was 
close  to  mine,  and  kissed  her  forehead.  She  released  her  hands 
with  a  manner  of  tender  agitation,  and  went  to  the  rail  and 
looked  over,  and  I  heard  her  draw  her  breath  in  a  sob. 

I  stepped  to  her  side,  and  said, '  If  I  have  grieved  you,  forgive 
me.  The  time  had  come  when  I  could  not  help  speaking.  I 
have  loved  you  from  the  hour  I  first  saw  you.  It  has  been  a 
hard  fight.  I  have  endeavoured  to  do  my  duty,  will  still 
attempt  it  if  you  command  me,  but  your  beauty  ana  sweetness 
have  conquered  my  resolution  of  silence.' 

She  wept  silently. 

'See  now  how  I  have  vexed  you,'  said  I. 

She  shook  her  head.  '  No.  I  am  happy/  she  answered,  in  a 
voice  so  low  that  I  had  to  bend  my  ear  to  catch  the  words. 
'I  am  indeed  happy  in  knowing  that  you  love  me.  It  is  as 
it  should  be.  It  is — it  is — as  lie  would — as  he  might  desire  it. 
Poor  boy.  But — but ' 

She  raised  her  head,  and  the  next  instant  her  face  was  hidden 
on  my  shoulder,  my  arms  around  her,  and  her  heart  beating 
against  mine. 

And  thus  it  was  that  we  managed  to  round  off  in  true  poetical 
style  our  most  eventful  experiences  as  a  marooned  couple. 
That  this  was  a  right  and  proper  ending  I  will  not  affirm,  but 
that  we  could  help  it  I  do  most  vehemently  deny.  And,  after 
all,  if  you  will  but  gravely  consider  the  matter,  you  will  see  it 
was  scarce  possible  but  that  two  people  thrown  together  as 
Aurelia  and  I  were  should  fall  in  love,  to  the  exclusion  of  all 


HOME  .^3 

promptings  of  loyalty  and  conscience  on  the  one  hand,  and  of 
all  impulses  of  an  earlier  passion  on  the  other.  Nor  was  this 
all.  The  character  of  our  intimacy  demanded  our  union.  In- 
deed, Aurelia  did  not  scruple  to  tell  me  afterwards — I  mean 
when  she  was  my  wife — that  even  had  her  love  been  made  to 
falter  by  thoughts  of  my  cousin's  claims  upon  her,  and  by  the 
memory  of  their  vows  and  betrothal,  the  recollection  ot  the 
island  must  have  sufficed  to  rally  her  into  accepting  me  as 
destined  by  fate  or  old  ocean,  which  is  the  same  thing,  to  be  her 
husband.  But  why  enlarge  upon  this?  It  would  have  been 
easy  to  shift  the  helm  of  this  yarn  towards  the  close  of  it,  and 
submit  myself  as  having  cut  a  highly  virtuous  figure.  But  then 
is  it  highly  virtuous  to  lieave  one's  emotional  obligations  over- 
b"bard? — to  confront  a  pure  and  ennobling  passion  with  a 
countenance  acidulated  by  some  bolus  of  conscience  that  is, 
strictly  speaking,  neither  here  nor  there,  though  it  works  very 
uncomfortably  in  the  moral  system,  without  leaving  one  much 
the  better  for  it  ? 

We  arrived  at  Bristol  on  the  6th  of  November,  after  above 
four  months  of  much  livelier  experiences  than  I  should  again 
care  to  undergo  on  any  account  whatever,  and  proceeded  to 
London,  where  before  the  month  was  out  we  were  married. 
The  wedding,  as  will  be  supposed,  was  a  very  quiet  one,  so  quiet 
indeed  that  there  was  nobody  but  ourselves  present ;  I  mean 
nobody  in  any  way  concerned  in  it.  Privacy  of  this  kind  is  a 
happiness  that  attends  the  nuptials  of  those  only  who  are 
without  relations;  that  is  to  say,  when  the  marriage  is  an 
honest  one,  done  in  the  light  of  day.  and  not  what  one  may  call 
a  window-and-ladder  match.  Aurelia  was  as  good  as  alone  in 
the  world,  and  for  the  matter  of  that  so  was  I ;  so  we  drove  one 
morning  to  church  and  returned  man  and  wife,  and  I  remember 
saying  to  my  blushing  beauty  as  we  stepped  arm-in-arm  from 
the  sacred  building,  that  if  all  marooning  experiments  had 
ended  as  ours  did,  the  punishment  must  long  before  have  become 
so  fashionable  that  there  would  be  no  uninhabited  islands  left ; 
the  most  sterile  rock  would  be  occupied  by  some  languishing 
couple,  and  it  might  come  to  skippers  being  handsomely  re- 
warded for  reporting  so  much  even  as  the  creation  of  a  volcanic 
spot  of  earth. 

But  before  I  was  married  I  wrote  a  letter  to  my  cousin, 
Alexander  Fraser.  It  was  a  very  long  letter  indeed.  I  gave 
him  the  full  relation  of  our  adventures,  and  do  not  know  that 
I  spared  him  the  most  trifling  detail,  so  anxious  was  I  to  submit 
the  whole  picture  to  him,  that  there  might  be  wanting  no 
incident  which,  omitted,  I  might  have  regretted  as  helpful  to 
the  general  apology  of  the  missive.  I  told  him  that  of  course 
I  expected  he  would  resent  my  conduct  at  first,  that  he  would 
consider  I  had  taken  a  mean  advantage  of  the  trust  he  confided 
in  me,  but  that  when  he  came  to  think  the  matter  carefully 
over,  he  would  understand  that  nothing  else  than  what  had 


344  MAROONED 

happened  was  possible.  I  touched  very  delicately  upon  Aurelia'a 
and  my  enforced  intimacy  of  association  on  the  island  :  deli- 
cately, I  say,  but  I  indicated  it  too,  for  therein,  methought,  lay 
the  very  handsomest  excuse  any  man  could  seek  or  expect  for 
what  I  had  done.  Whatever  occurred  to  me  to  say  in  self- 
extenuation,  I  said  j  but  though  I  took  great  pains,  wrote  in 
a  subdued  strain,  with  plentiful  appeals  to  his  sailorly  instincts 
as  a  man  to  judge  me  kindly,  to  believe  that  I  had  embarked 
most  honestly,  that  for  weeks  and  weeks  I  had  never  thought 
of  the  girl  but  as  his  sweetheart,  that  even  after  we  had  quitted 
the  island  I  was  still  for  conveying  Aurelia  to  Rio,  though  I 
was  loving  her  passionately  then,  and  abhorred  the  thought  of 

Earting  with  her — I  say,  that  though  I  did  my  best  in  this 
jtter,  I  felt  at  every  word  which  dropped  from  my  pen  that  it 
was  like  rubbing  a  cat  the  wrong  way,  as  uncomfortable  to  the 
stroking  hand  as  to  the  creature  thus  dealt  with.  Perhaps  I 
said  too  much  ;  then  it  would  occur  to  me  that  I  had  not  said 
enough :  and  sometimes  I  thought  it  would  have  been  best  to 
say  nothing  at  all,  and  leave  him  to  conclude  that  the  Iron 
Grown  had  foundered,  and  we  with  her. 

Well,  a  few  months  after  I  had  dispatched  this  epistle — this 
great  bundle  of  manuscript  I  should  call  it,  for  it  ran  into  many 
sheets — during  all  which  time  not  a  syllable  reached  me  from 
Rio,  I  received  a  letter  from  Captain  Fpljambe,  in  which  he 
gave  me  two  items  of  news,  both  of  great  interest  to  me. 

The  first  concerned  the  Iron  Croivn.  It  seems  that  this  vessel 
had  been  found  derelict  at  sea,  about  a  hundred  leagues  west- 
ward of  the  island  of  Cuba.  She  was  fallen  in  with  by  a  French 
barque,  whose  people  on  boarding^  her  discovered  a  couple  of 
auger-holes  in  her  bows,  one  of  which  had  been  plugged,  whilst 
the  leakage  of  the  other  had  been,  strangely  enough,  stopped  by 
a  fish  that  lay  jammed  in  the  orifice,  just  leaving  room  enough 
for  a  small  draining  of  brine,  scarce  as  much  as  would  have 
raised  a  foot  of  water  in  her  hold  in  a  fortnight.  On  entering 
the  cabin  they  found  the  ceiling,  stanchions,  and  a  portion  of 
the  forward  bulkheads  scorched,  with  other  signs  of  afire  having 
been  kindled,  manifestly  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  her. 
There  were  traces  of  blood  upon  her  quarter-deck  and  waist, 
whether  hitman  or  not  could  not  be  told.  Aloft  she  was  a 
complete  wreck  ;  most  of  her  sails  in  ragsz  her  main-topmast 
gone,  her  fore-topgallant-mast  hanging  by  its  gear,  and  about 
ten  feet  of  her  starboard  bulwarks  smashed  level  to  the  covering 
board.  Her  name  was  plain  upon  the  stern,  and  she  was  un- 
questionably the  brig  in  which  we  had  sailed.  She  had  appar- 
ently encountered  a  violent  storm,  but  whether  before  or  after 
her  abandonment  was  not  to  be  guessed.  There  was  nothing  to 
be  done  with  her,  and  as  she  would  prove  a  formidable  obstruc- 
tion to  drive  into  in  the  dark,  the  Frenchmen  knocked  the 
plug  out,  cleared  away  the  fish,  and  left  her  to  drown.  Nothing 
was  known  of  her  crev ,  and  I  may  as  well  say  here,  that  though 


HOME  345 

I  continued  long  afterwards  to  make  inquiries,  I  never  got  to 
h«jar  of  them,  and  therefore  remain  to  this  hour  ignorant  of 
the  manner  in  which  Broadwater  had  met  his  end — whether  he 
was  murdered,  or  perished  by  his  own  act. 

Foljambe's  second  item  of  news  was  to  this  effect.  During  his 
outward  run  to  Havanna,  when  somewhat  to  the  southward  of 
the  Great  Bahama  Bank,  he  sighted  a  little  schooner,  which,  on 
his  nearing  her,  proved  to  be  the  Orphan.  Ducrow,  standing  at 
the  rail,  recognized  the  Bristol  Trader,  and  yelled  in  his  demon- 
strative fashion  to  be  permitted  to  step  on  board,  that  he  might 
make  inquiries  after  myself  and  the  lady.  There  was  very  little 
wind  at  the  time,  and  Foljambe  told  him  he  was  at  liberty  to  come, 
but  that  he  was  not  going  to  back  his  topsail-yard  to  oblige  him. 
On  this  the  schooner's  boat  was  thrown  over  the  side,  Ducrow 
and  two  blacks  jumped  into  her.  and  in  hot  haste  and  shouting 
loudly  swept  the  little  leaking  fabric  to  the  main-chains  of  the 
ship,  over  which  Ducrow  floundered,  smirking,  flourishing  his 
tasselled  cap,  and  bowing  as  of  old  with  many  contortions.  The 
main  purport  of  his  visit  was,  that  I  might  be  told  through 
Captain  Foljambe  that  he  had  found  out  the  island  on  which  we 
haa  been  marooned,  and  had  carried  off  not  only  our  luggage, 
but  the  Spanish  negro  whom  we  had  left  there.  The  fellow,  he 
said,  was  now  aboard  the  schooner,  and  he  pointed  to  a  black 
who  stood  surveying  the  ship  from  the  schooner's  forecastle. 
He  told  Captain  Foljambe  that  he  did  not  know  there  was  a 
roan  on  the  island — and  indeed  I  had  said  nothing  about  the 
poor  runaway,  as  I  supposed  that  he  desired  to  lie  in  hiding  for 
the  rest  of  his  life  in  that  ocean  retreat.  Ducrow  and  one  of 
his  darkies — Moses — went  ashore,  and  after  a  short  search  found 
the  open  hatch  in  the  sand.  They  peered  in — the  evening  was 
then  gathering — and  Ducrow.  being  afraid  to  go  first,  told  the 
negro  to  lead  the  way,  giving  him  a  Kick  to  help  him  to  a  proper 
posture  of  resolution.  Moses  plumped  down,  and  Ducrow  was 
in  the  act  of  following  him,  when  he  heard  the  negro  yelling, 
'De  debbil,  de  debbil ! — here's  de  debbil  himshef, — here's  de  debbil 
himshef  ! — oh  Lord ! '  followed  by  sounds  of  wrestling  and  hard 
breathing,  whereupon  Ducrow  instantly  took  to  his  heels,  but 
before  he  could  reach  his  boat  he  was  tripped  up  by  some  one 
who  pursued  him,  the  man  in  chase  falling  over  him  heavily.  This 
fellow  proved  to  be  the  Spanish  negro.  Ducrow,  jumping  up, 
concluded  that  his  end  was  arrived,  and  whipped  out  with  a  long 
knife,  intending,  as  he  told  Captain  Foljamoe.  to  sell  his  life  at 
the  highest  price  he  could  get  for  it.  Then  followed  a  parley. 
The  negro  could  only  speak  Spanish.  Luckily  for  Ducrow,  he 
knew  a  few  words  in  that  tongue,  enough  with  gesticulations  to 
let  the  negro  understand  that  he  meant  him  no  harm.  Ebenezer, 
the  mate  of  the  schooner,  was  in  the  boat.  This  black  had  been 
a  Cuban  slave,  and  was  able  to  converse  with  the  other,  who  was 
speedily  tranquillized  by  his  pacific  assurances.  When  he  was 
told  that  he  would  be  a  free  man  under  the  British  flag,  and  that 


346  MAKOONED 

J*~« 

whilst  that  bunting  continued  to  fly  o%'er  his  head  he  need  not 
fear  of  being  recaptured,  he  told  Ducrovv'  that  he  would  be  willing 
to  enter  as  a  sailor  with  him.  In  short,  he  had  had  enough  of  the 
island,  though  I  believe  he  had  not  lived  alone  upon  it  above  a 
fortnight.  He  said  it  was  haunted.  One  evening  he  saw  the 
ghost  of  a  black  man  come  out  of  the  sea  and  pass  into  the 
forest  and  vanish,  and  he  declared  it  was  the  spectre  of  the  dead 
negro  who  had  been  with  him  in  the  boat  when  they  drifted  to 
the  island.  It  ended,  Ducrow  told  Captain  Foljambe,  in  their 
clearing  the  underground  rooms,  not  only  of  our  luggage,  but  of 
everything  else  in  it — the  chairs,  table,  pots  and  pans,  muskets, 
and  so  forth.  This  was  good  booty  to  Ducrow,  who  made  a 
division  of  it  amongst  the  men,  the  Spanish  negro  being  very 
well  satisfied  with  his  share.  Ducrow  sent  many  flattering 
messages  to  Aurelia  and  myself,  and  particularly  begged  the 
captain  to  compliment  me  in  his  name  on  my  taste  in  shirts, 
and  to  inform  me  that  he  had  never  worn  anything  choicer  in 
the  way  of  linen.  1  confess  we  both  begrudged  the  rogues  the 
apparel  they  had  come  by.  I  know  that  Aurelia's  and  my  out- 
fit had  cost  me  a  round  sum  of  money,  and  that  she  had  left 
enough  dresses  and  other  clothing  behind  her  to  have  furnished 
her  with  a  trousseau. 

It  was  eighteen  months  before  I  heard  from  Rio,  by  which 
time  I  had  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  either  my  cousin 
Alexander  was  dead,  or  that  he  hated  me  too  violently  to  put 
pen  to  paper.  Aurelia  believed  that  death  was  the  reason  of 
Ids  silence.  He  had  died,  she  believed,  of  grief,  and  I  was 
heartily  glad,  for  my  own  sake  as  much  as  for  my  wife's,  when 
one  morning  I  received  a  letter  from  him  :  for  I  may  as  well 
say  her  notion  that  he  had  died  of  a  broken  heart  was  the 
cause  of  many  fits  of  melancholy  in  her,  which  rendered  me  a 
little  peevish  with  jealousy ;  so  that  had  Alexander  not  written, 
there  might  by  and  by  have  come  some  little  unhappiness  into 
xny  married  life. 

He  began  by  saying  that  he  had  made  up  his  mind  not  to 
write  to  me  at  all.  He  had  hated  me  consumedly  for  months 
after  reading  my  letter,  and  would  have  been  pleased  to  kill 
me,  only  that  the  voyage  home  was  too  tedious  and  expensive 
an  undertaking  for  so  twopenny  an  issue.  News  of  the  Iron 
Crown,  having  been  found  abandoned  and  in  a  wrecked  con- 
dition had  reached  him  before  he  got  my  letter,  and  he  con- 
cluded that  Aurelia  and  I  were  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  He 
had  written  home  to  the  owners  of  the  brig  for  information, 
but  his  inquiries  remained  unanswered.  His  getting  my  letter, 
he  said,  was  like  receiving  a  missive  from  the  other  world,  and 
he  swore  that  before  he  was  one-third  through  it  he  heartily 
wished  that  it  had  come  from  the  other  world,  and  from  the 
deepest  and  most  fiery  part  of  it  too,  for  to  that  place  did  his 
temper  consign  me  at  every  full-stop  he  came  to.  Of  Aurelia 
he  desired  to  say  nothing.  Women  were  seat  into  the  world 


HOME  r,47 

to  make  fools  of  men,  and  not  even  old  age  hindered  the  most 
of  them  from  struggling  on  in  fulfilment  of  this  mission.  But 
a  woman  could  sometimes  make  as  great  a  fool  of  a  man  by 
marrying  him  as  by  jilting  him.  For  many  months  he  had 
been  wondering  which  of  us  two — meaning  himself  and  me — 
was  the  more  deserving  of  compassion,  but  now  he  was  no 
longer  in  doubt,  and  he  could  only  hope  I  was  happy,  he  was 
sure.  Aurelia  was  a  beautiful  woman,  and  he  had  been  very 
much  in  love  with  her ;  but  after  all  beauty  is  but  skin  deep. 
And  then,  again,  people's  feelings  change  wonderfully.  Time 
converts  the  loveliest  face  into  a  mask,  and  often  into  a  very 
t*gly  one ;  and  how  swift  is  the  flight  of  time !  We  clasp  a 
beautiful  creature  to  our  heart,  and  when  she  lifts  her  face 
from  our  bosom,  lo !  we  find  the  angel  of  Time  has  been  with 
her,  and  'tis  all  pucker  and  rheum,  crows'-feet,  sausage-curls, 
and  the  deuce  knows  what  besides!  As  to  the  durability  of 
sentiment —  Stop !  he'd  give  me  a  yarn.  He  was  at  a  funeral 
last  year.  A  young  wife  had  died,  and  the  husband  was  incon- 
solable. His  grief  at  the  grave-side  was  terrible  to  witness. 
His  friends  had  to  grasp  him  by  the  arms  and  coat-tails  to 
hinder  him  from  precipitating  himself  into  the  yawning  chasm 
when  the  coffin  was  lowered  into  it.  He  wept,  he  howled,  he 
tore  his  hair,  he  shook  his  fists  at  the  sky,  and  asked  with 
streaming  eyes  what  he  had  done  to  deserve  this  dreadful 
affliction.  This  emotion  was  sincere  down  to  the  very  heels  of 
it.  'Four  months  later,'  added  my  cousin,  *I  received  an 
invitation  to  his  wedding ! ' 

'  And  now,'  continued  the  letter, '  since  I  have  made  tip  my 
mind  to  write,  I  may  as  well  give  you  and  Mrs.  Musgrave  all 
the  news.  Will  you  ask  your  wife  if  she  remembers  Isabella 
Eadcliffe  ?  ^  No  doubt  she  does.  Mr.  Badclifie  and  Mr.  Grant 
were,  I  believe,  friends,  but  a  coolness  sprang  up  between  them 
some  time  before  the  latter  left  Rio.  Though  Isabella  has  not 
the  good  fortune  to  have  Spanish  blood  in  her,  being  indeed 
purely  English,  and  eminently  gifted^with  her  countrywoman's 
noblest  quality — the  grand  characteristic  of  the  entirely  British 
lass — I  mean  loyalty,  Dick ;  she  is  exceedingly  beautiful,  never- 
theless. Her  eyes  are  violet,  richly  fringed,  her  hair  auburn, 
rarest  of  tints ;  there  is  nothing  majestic  and  stately  about  her  ; 
she  is  merely^  lovable,  plump,  fragrant,  sweet  to  see  and  to 
hearken  to,  with  so  exquisite  a  contralto  voice  that  everybody 
calls  it  a  fortune  to  her.  Her  papa  is  dead,  and  his  will  appoints 
that  the  sum  of  eight  thousand  pounds  is  to  be  settled  upon  her 
when  she  marries,  providing  that  she  does  so  with  her  mother's 
consent,  presuming  of  course  the  mother  to  be  living.  The 
mother  is  living,  and  /  have  her  consent,  and  perhaps  some  of 
these  days  I  may  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  the  prettiest 
woman  that  was  ever  seen  in  South  America  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Musgrave.  Happily  she^  resides  at  Rio,  so  I  shall  not  be  obliged 
to  ask  any  relative  to  bring  her  to  me.  Be  good  enough,  when 


548  MAKOONED 

you  next  write,  to  let  me  know  what  I  owe  you  for  Mra 
Musgrave's  outfit,  and  for  the  hire  of  the  cabins  of  the  ship 
you  embarked  in.  Convey  my  kind  regards  to  your  wife,  and 
believe  me,  my  dear  Dick, 

'Yours  very  truly, 

'ALEX.  FEASER.' 

Poor  Aleo ! 

Yet  this  letter  magically  cleared  our  home  atmosphere.  There 
were  no  more  melancholy  references  to  my  cousin's  broken 
heart.  I  have  drunk  many  a  bottle  with  Alec  since,  and  he  is 
godfather  to  my  second  boy,  and  Aurelia  is  godmother  to  his 
third  girL 

So  passes  the  procession  of  life  across  the  stage  of  the  world. 
I  had  advanced  but  a  few  steps,  so  to  speak,  on  the  boards  when 
this  experience  I  have  written  about  befell  me.  My  wife  and  I 
were  young,  our  hearts  had  a  strong  beat,  the  sun  was  yet  in 
the  eastern  heavens,  his  light  very  glorious,  and  the  land  fair 
and  gay  with  flowers  ;  and  now  I  am  hobbling  off  within  a  few 
paces  of  the  dark  wing  whose  shadow,  when  the  actor  has 
entered  it,  shrouds  him  for  ever  from  the  gaze  of  the  company 
that  sit  watching  the  show.  But  the  western  radiance  still 
lingers,  the  dusk  has  not  yet  fallen,  and  my  wife  and  I,  though 
our  clasped  hands  tremble  with  the  infirmities  of  age,  still  walk 
in  sunshine,  finding  cheerfulness  in  the  lingering  lustre,  though 
we  know  it  to  be  waning  fast. 


SHZ  JOTD 


HERNBEGlONALLIBRARYFAaLITY 


